Fight for Freedom
by Poddy
Summary: John Horton (Viper) has been framed for murder and sent into the tournament, now he must fight his wayout and get his name cleared. CHAPTER 17 NOW AVAILABLE
1. In the beggining

Fight for Freedom  
  
(a/n) Hi there. I've only written a little bit of the story just for a test whether people like it or not. If you do like it then of course I'll carry on writing, but if not then who knows what I'll do. Also, this is based on the Unreal Tournament 2004 (rocks) so vehicles will be there to make things more interesting to write about, and in 2004 nobody is the present champion so I just made one up: Phoenix. Hope you like it. Read and enjoy! :)  
  
"But you can't put me in the tournament!" John shouted at the man behind the large desk. "I don't deserve to go in there! I have proof! I didn't do it I swear. You have in camera! You just don't wanna believe me because this asshole next to me has good links in the tournament!" He kept screaming at the judge but he knew he wasn't listening. Phoenix was in the tournament finals against Malcolm, and the odds were on his side big time. 600 kills with only 96 official deaths, that's the best record this tournament has ever had, most people reckon the matches were fixed and the odd death was thrown in the create the idea that it was real. "I said at the beginning of this case, both of you candidates are fully equal, and nobody in this court will resort to any form of bias behaviour, especially me." Stated the judge clearly. "Now, John Horton, you will serve 15 years in the tournament. However, if you do happen to win this grand tournament, you will be free to do as you please." John put his head in his hands and then ran his fingers through his hair. He couldn't believe it, framed, he wasn't even there, 'how could this be?' he thought to himself time and again. 'I wasn't even there! So what if it looks like me? That doesn't mean it is! Why the hell don't these Liandri assholes hear me out!?'  
  
The judge snapped John back to what was happening with the line: "guards! Get him in a cell now." Two guards started to advance on John. He went behind the table as the guards came right to him. He didn't stand much chance against two armed guards with Assault Rifles. They both went around different sides of the table and grabbed him by the shoulders. They lifted him up straight into the air and took both his arms with his legs swinging and kicking. John was desperate to get free; he swung his right leg around and smashed a jug of water spilling it all over the floor. It wasn't long before he was out of the room, then the guards could do what they wanted with him. One guard held him firmly whilst the other repeatedly hit John in the stomach with the butt his rifle. He then hit him in the face causing him to spit out blood. It didn't take much time for him to fall unconscious with all the blows he was taking. John's vision eventually faded away.  
  
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John woke up on the floor in a pool of his own blood; he was bleeding for the side of his head and mouth. He was glad he fell unconscious when the guards battered him, it must have been bad. There was a constant ringing in his ears and his head felt heavy, the rest of his body was weak. He took a moment to look at his surroundings; it seemed rather luxurious for a cell. A couch was against the left hand wall, there was a TV on a stand up in the corner of the room. John's eyes were blurry but he could make out something was on the screen, it looked like somebody was running around but that was it. He stumbled towards another small doorway and was surprised to see a bathroom with a toilet, sink and shower. All of them were it was in pretty neat condition too, John stumbled through into another doorway; it felt like his left leg didn't want to work with his right leg; maybe the guards did something to it. Another, slightly larger room was next to the bathroom. There was a punch bag, some weights neatly stashed in the corner and another sink. This was also the only room that had some form of decoration on the walls; a picture of rolling hills with a sunset in the background, obviously to represent freedom. It must be there to tease the prisoners on what they would be missing out on if they were not in the tournament. Just looking at it chewed away at his insides, tears stung his eyes and walked back into the main room and sat down on the couch and put his head in his hands. There was no way out of this now, like the judge said: 'if you do happen to win this tournament, you will be free to do as you please'. The line kept repeating itself in John's head; it was like a splinter in his mind, so deep nobody could remove it for as long as he lives. He has no personal belongings; this was his new home for at least 15 years. He had to fight for his freedom.....  
  
(a/n) Anyway, that's only the start, a little short I know but I'll try a lot more if I get some good reviews, I'm hoping to get the team introduced and some fights going. Ok thanks for reading. Please review. :) 


	2. New friends

Chapter 2: New friends  
  
Disclaimer: I own all the Unreal Tournament games and they all rock! No copyright or anything though.  
  
(a/n) Hi there, I'm going to start writing my story in a different way now, and hopefully it should be longer too. Read and enjoy. Oh yeah, and try to review. :)  
  
John slowly woke up, the TV was blaring away in the corner with the sounds of gunshots and an announcer with a deep voice saying things like: 'First Blood'. He didn't have a clue what it meant, but he had a feeling that he would be hearing it soon. John got up from the couch he had slept on and he felt rough like usual. He walked slowly up to a mirror and looked at himself, large bags were under his eyes and his hair was ruffled up. He looked too innocent to be here. His bright green eyes stared right through his reflection. His short brown hair made him look like a soldier because of the way it was cut, and his thin lips made him look like a veteran of combat, but he knew he wasn't.  
  
"My god you're a mess" A deep voice sounded behind him. John saw a silhouette in the mirror and he quickly turned around to see who it was. "Sorry to startle you there. By the way I'm Lock, the captain of the new team I'm hoping to get you on. Kill Switch. I just had some free time and heard that new recruit was in so I thought I'd better check him out." He reached his hand out towards John: he didn't really know how to respond, he wanted to be nice.  
  
"Hi, I'm John, John Horton." John shook Lock's hand and smiled. "Nice to meet you John, so, are you interested in this team or what?" "Well, I don't know, I don't even wanna be here, so I don't know." "Hell! None of us want to be here, but we have to, and we will always have to unless some of us rise up and defeat Phoenix. That guy has won the tournament already, and I know he's not gonna be a nice guy when he's up there." "Phoenix" John repeated, he couldn't remember much of the court room and his sentence, but he remembered that name. "Phoenix" John said again. "I know. None of us like to hear it, everybody on the blue team hates him and we will stop at nothing to bring him down. It's just every time we tried, we have been beaten and returned to the bottom of the league: it's really not fair." Lock looked at the floor, obviously remembering past experiences.  
  
There was a moment of silence, neither of them said anything. "Sure. I'll do it. Anything to beat Phoenix and his guys. He screwed me over before, so he's gonna pay." Lock looked up and his face lit up when he heard John say this, but he was also curious as to what he said about getting screwed over. He didn't want to intrude, and since they had only just met, he didn't want to get too personal. "Great! You have passed your authorization classes first though right?" "What?" John replied. Lock sighed and said in a very patronizing tone: "If you haven't passed your induction, your not gonna get any where are you? You won't have a name, and armour, any weapons, or any chance. So just go down to the desk at the front and ask for an authorization test, and they'll do the rest ok? Good luck!" He left the room with John standing in the middle of the room.  
  
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John walked nervously up to the main desk and there was a robot fixed on to a chair that could swivel on a stand connected to the floor. He was covered in wires, and looked rather intimidating. John approached him slowly.  
  
"Welcome to the Liandri building sir. How may I help you?" the computer said in an eerie robotic voice. John took a deep breathe and said clearly without pausing: "I'd like to sign up for the tournament please." "Affirmative. Which team would you like to be on? Red or blue?" "Blue please." The robot looked at John in a funny way, almost puzzled by what he said; he only stopped for a brief moment and then spun round on his chair and reached into a filing cabinet, and took a folder, then spun back to John and gave it to him. "Name?" John wasn't in the mood for being creative, he thought of the first name that came to his head that he liked. "Viper" he said, and the robot typed it in on the computer. He then printed something off the computer in front of him and gave him some sort of ticket. "This is your pass for 4 upcoming matches, make sure you are there, they will not wait for anybody, and your armour will be issued to you in the next 12 hours. Thank you sir." "Thanks." Said John back quickly, and headed off towards his cell again.  
  
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Phoenix dodged to the left and fired a rocket off in Malcolm's direction. The score was 5-1 to him, and he could see Malcolm starting to tire. 'Click', Phoenix's rocket launcher was empty, so he quickly drew out his minigun and opened fired, Malcolm was still on the run and could not afford to die again from Phoenix. There was already a gaping hole in the side of Malcolm's head, and he needed to find a health pack somewhere. He was limping and had one of his hands clutched over the side of his head. It wasn't long before Phoenix caught up with him and cut him to shreds with his minigun. "Ownage" Phoenix taunted as Malcolm's corpse dropped to the floor in a pool of blood.  
  
Malcolm respawned and could still feel his back hurting, Phoenix must have used the armour piecing bullets when he shot him, and they hurt a lot. He jumped and grabbed his favourite weapon: the link gun. Suddenly, Phoenix jumped down from above and startled Malcolm but he was quick on the trigger and blew Phoenix apart instantly. "You like that?" He shouted to Phoenix. Malcolm spun round and took some armour and headed up towards to highest point in the map. A sniper rifle lay there and Malcolm took it and threw the link gun off the edge. He searched around the for map for Phoenix but he couldn't find him, he waited for him to pop out. Phoenix crept up very quietly behind Malcolm and pressed the barrel of a sniper rifle into the back of Malcolm's head. "Goodbye" Phoenix said and blew the back and front of Malcolm's head off, brains were scattered everywhere. Phoenix wiped the blood of his face and carried on.  
  
The score was now 7-2 and Phoenix was very ready to be the new Tournament champion, and with the new tournament with the new vehicles starting very soon, he wouldn't have to wait long until he could get back in the action. He was perched up on the high peak with a sniper rifle and spotted Malcolm and blew his head off in one shot. "Head shot" the announcer boomed into Phoenix's headset. Malcolm didn't catch on very fast: it was only seconds after Malcolm had been killed that he made the same mistake. "Head shot" the announcer said once again. "Just one more kill" Phoenix said to himself calmly. He didn't want to get excited too early. Malcolm chose the same route again, except he fired first with his minigun and hit Phoenix in the chest several times. Phoenix swore and left the area. Malcolm knew where Phoenix was going to come out and cut him off with more fire from his minigun, a shot to the leg made Phoenix stumble and he rushed towards the medi pack as fast as his wounded legs would carry him. Malcolm grinned and turned the corner and looked down the long corridor where Phoenix could not escape from, but he wasn't there. Malcolm slowly walked down the corridor being extra careful not fall into any traps, but it was too late. Phoenix jumped from a ledge above his head and slaughtered him with a rocket launcher at close range leaving only a mangled corpse left with huge chunks cut out of Malcolm's flesh.  
  
"You have won the match!" The announcer shouted and Phoenix raised his fist into the air and said: "anyone else want some!?" They both appeared outside back in the stadium where they both started and as soon as they appeared on their feet, Malcolm collapsed and started coughing and taking short quick breaths. Blood was pouring out of his mouth and any other gaps in his armour. Soon his green navy coloured armour was painted in smears of red. Doctors quickly rushed over to him and lifted him up on a stretcher and ran off carrying Malcolm behind them. A commentator's weedy voice came on. "Well folks this is our brand new champion of the tournament: Phoenix!" the whole crowd erupted in cheers and whoops. Banners went up and people started chanting his name. "Phoenix! Phoenix! Phoenix!" they chanted over and over again. Nobody really cared about Malcolm any more; it was Phoenix who was the new king.  
  
John turned off the TV and clenched his fists and sat down. He can't believe a person who just put an innocent man in prison could suddenly become the good guy that everybody likes. Wouldn't anybody suspect him of anything? The rumour of it being a fix has now completely vanished now because he has become champion, it wasn't fair, it never was fair.  
  
"Bad news huh?" It was Lock visiting John in his cell. "There is something really wrong about that guy Phoenix. His ability to kill without a second thought. To be happy when Malcolm was all screwed up like that, how he is so brutal in combat, the other night in a match he picked up just a brand new kid just a rookie, and slammed him into a wall again and again until he was dead. It wasn't right, people aren't supposed to do that. People aren't even supposed to do this let alone do that to a kid who is about 20 years old. I don't like it one bit." John realized that Lock really hated Phoenix too; maybe this is a guy he could really relate to. John lost most of his friends after they were recruited in the army to fight in the Human/Skaarj wars. Lock saw the ticket's on the side of John's couch and smiled. "Hey, your match is tomorrow, you done any training? You gotta keep fit if you wanna win this thing." "I haven't really thought about it much really" John replied. "Well it's not that hard anyway; you should fly through the opening rounds I'm sure. Once you do that, you can come to me and you can join my team. Come and see me after you've won. Room 275. Good luck!" "Thanks" John replied. Lock was a good guy. John headed into the small room with the punch bag and weights and quickly started to punch the punch bag with his bare knuckles. He wanted to get through to the next round and join Lock's team. He didn't want to let anybody down, especially Lock... 


	3. Let's go!

Fight for Freedom  
  
Chapter 3: Let's go!  
  
(a/n) Hello again. Thanks for the reviews (thanks Dynamis) that decided to make me carry on with this story. In this chapter John will tell people why he is actually in here in more detail, and he should also get his first qualification match in. So hope this one is more interesting. Please review and enjoy. :)  
  
John was trying on his new armour that had just been delivered to his cell. He clipped on the buckles on the side of his chest armour and looked at himself in the mirror. He looked pretty good; he was surprised that he didn't feel any heavier either. There was a small screen built in to a plate of armour around his wrist. His touched the screen lightly with his finger and it glowed a bright green and a notice saying: 'scoreboard is not available' came up. John was impressed with is so far.  
  
The armour was a navy green colour and left his arms bare with just a plate around his wrists and some gloves to protect them. Boots came to his knees, and then there was a plate to cover them, and then navy trousers underneath. More buckles kept them in place, and then there was a torso armour piece and went around his whole chest. In the middle of the chest piece there was obviously a place for a certain symbol to go, he would get that when he joined a team.  
  
John liked the armour, and he felt ready for anything. His match was starting in a couple of minutes, so he had to get ready so he could just get in and get out quickly without getting hurt. He glanced up at the big screen in the corner, and saw what looked like a Last Man Standing match. A mech called Matrix appeared back in the stadium and said in a robotic voice: "My victory, your death". It seemed kinda scary to John that that mech had been programmed to say that and it doesn't even have any feelings when it says that.  
  
The commentator didn't seem very enthusiastic about this match or indeed announcing the next match. "The next match is a qualifying match between our new competitor Viper and the person who has never got out of here before: Silhouette!" The crowd cheered weakly and most of them left. "Ok, here we go." John said to himself quietly and walked towards the lift outside his cell.  
  
He showed the small scanner next to the lift his ticket and the computer accepted and gave it back to John. He left it on the desk and stepped onto the lift. He was nervous, he didn't know what to expect up there. On TV it looked fun and exciting to do, but when you are there, all you want is to just get out. The elevator reached the top and there was a small crowd that all turned to stare at John at the same time.  
  
"Viper! Our new competitor for the tournament who is looking for glory!" the commentator said normally. The crowd clapped lightly as John walked up to the platform in the middle and waited for his opponent to come out.  
  
"Now we have Viper's opponent, Silhouette!" The crowd started booing and shouting insults at her. John felt sorry for her and wished the crowd would treat her better, but she obviously didn't have a good reputation. She walked quickly up to the platform, obviously to get away from all the bad things people were saying about her. John nodded at her when she looked him in the eyes, she didn't respond. She slammed down on the button and the large screen above John and her and it stopped on a map called 'Idoma'  
  
"Looks like its Idoma again folks!" The commentator shouted. Then a woman's voice came on and said: "Match begins in 5.....4.....3.....2.....1....Begin."  
  
John had appeared standing in a puddle of water just outside a corridor that ran under a bridge. John looked at the pad on his wrist and tapped it with his finger. A score board came up with Silhouette's and John's name on it. Kill limit 5 it said. John looked up and ran down the corridor. He had is assault rifle ready and carefully checked that nobody could see him. There was a shock rifle in front of him, he picked it up and ran towards some health vials picking them up and they gave him a boost of energy. He knew what most of these things are as John had watched it on TV so many times.  
  
John went up a wooden ramp and turned the corner to see Silhouette standing there with a rocket launcher. John was startled and took a step back. Silhouette cocked the rocket launcher and was about to fire but John closed his eyes and hit the trigger. The first shot hit her in the leg, bringing her down on one knee. He fired again and hit her in the chest, she fell on her back and pointed her rocket launcher at John, she fired at him and John's first instinct was to duck and hug the wall. She fired again and one was going straight for John's face but he ducked again and he popped up and fired a shot into Silhouette's rocket launcher just when she fired and hit her rocket when it was still in the barrel and blew her arm clean off. "First Blood" the announcer said.  
  
John carried on running and picked up a Flak Cannon around the back of the map, he loaded it up and was ready to find Silhouette and get the job done before he got hurt. Silhouette was hiding around a corner waiting for John to appear, but John was exploring parts of the map that were empty and ended up right behind her. He didn't know what to do, he would have to kill her, but he didn't want to like this. He couldn't sit there and think about it for too long otherwise he would be killed himself. He pointed the Flak Cannon right next her head and closed his eyes and fired. Blood went all over him and the surrounding concrete walls were decorated with smears of red.  
  
As soon as John moved Silhouette was back with a minigun and opened up on John, he was out in the open and he couldn't go anywhere. He was riddled with bullets and thrown back against the wall. Silhouette showed no mercy, she had obviously been stuck in here for a long time and wanted to get out. She opened up again and John was killed.  
  
There were flashes of blue and red and John had respawned back. His body hurt a lot and he had a ringing headache, and there was a sensational stinging pain in his back. He limped towards a Link gun and picked up some link charges too. Silhouette turned the corner and John blasted her away angrily. What she did to him hurt a lot and he wanted her to pay. Her body slid down the wooden ramp and landed face down in a puddle. He looked at his wrist pad, he only had to kill her 2 more times and then he would win.  
  
A large armour pick up lay in front of him and he ran over it, a flash of gold went over him and he knew this would help him. Silhouette spotted John and fired at him with her rocket launcher. One hit John in the back whilst another just went over his head; John was knocked forwards onto his hands and knees and turned around to have a rocket land right next to him, blowing John to the side. His armour was taking most of it, but it was basically all gone from the blows with the rocket.  
  
John scrambled up onto his feet, he had been knocked off balance and fired in Silhouette's direction, he wasn't being very accurate with the link gun primary fire, so he used the secondary attack and a long green beam stretched across the hall and hit her in the head. John held down the trigger until she has melted into a skeleton which crumpled in a heap.  
  
"One more kill" John said to himself. "Then it will be over just one more kill" He picked up a minigun and dropped his link gun on the floor, bullets were lying around the gun so he picked them up as well. He didn't have much health and he needed some quickly or he would be blown away, he ran towards a health pack when he heard that noise again. A rocket was flying in his direction. John spun round to face Silhouette and rolled to the left when the rocket was coming at him. John let rip with his minigun and tore her to shreds.  
  
"You have won the match!" The announcer boomed into John's earpiece making him jump. "Oh yeah!" John shouted, he couldn't help it. They both reappeared on the platform and he could see Silhouette was ashamed of herself and she walked off slowly with the crowds booing and shouting at her even more. John did feel sorry for her, but he couldn't do anything to stop it. Instead he just raised his arm and the crowd started to cheer for him. Then he decided to walk back to his cell.  
  
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John sat down on his couch and put his head in his hands. He was over the moment that he got in the match, and he finally realized what he had really done. His normal thoughts flooded back to him and his mind was full of guilt and questions.  
  
John sighed and thought to himself: "how did I just do that? What have I just done? That wasn't me in there, that was someone else, a monster." John stamped his foot and looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath, he needed to calm down.  
  
"Nice match there man!" it was Lock again, but this time he had someone with him. Lock always made the same entrance, the type that startled John when he wasn't expecting it. John was still looking at the ceiling. "You alright?" girl with Lock said. John looked up at the woman. She smiled and said, "hi my names Rae. You must be Viper, or John as Lock likes to call you."  
  
"Thanks. Yeah I'm John nice to meet ya'" He shook her hand weakly and looked back up at the ceiling. "You ok?" Lock asked. "Yeah, I'm fine" John replied quietly. Lock looked at Rae and made a gesture that she should leave him and John alone to talk. Rae nodded, Lock stood up and kissed her, and then she left.  
  
Lock put his hand on John shoulder. "Really, what's wrong?" John sighed and looked at the floor, trying not to make eye contact. "I....I just can't believe what I just did in there. The way I was so brutal in there."  
  
"Well, I mean in here, you have to be brutal to stay alive. Hell, that's the reason most of us are in here right? I mean you must have done something bad to be in here. I mean-"  
  
"- yeah but that's where your wrong!" John stood up angrily and looked at Lock who was still sitting down. "I wasn't put in here because I hurt anybody! I'm here, because that asshole Phoenix, framed me, and just wanted a few more people like me so he could torture them in here! In that court room, I tried to defend myself, I had evidence to prove it! But they still turned me down and put me in here."  
  
"Well, what happened then?" Lock asked cautiously. "I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was working an extra shift at my job, there was a small alley around the back where I was going to take the garbage out and put it there. Then, my memory goes, I remember, I remember a gang. They were attacking some guy and beating him up real bad. I asked them what they were doing, and they attacked me, then I can't remember anything else, a gunshot, then they must have dumped my body with the weapon and victim and left me for dead."  
  
"Even the CCTV got it on camera, but nobody would pay attention. They thought it was a way of making murder look innocent and like an accident when they say it was all planned. I mean how the hell do you plan this?"  
  
John took of his right boot and revealed three gunshot wounds, and then a gash going all the way up his thigh. "You call that an accident?" John shouted. Lock didn't know what to say. "Oh my god" he said quietly. "Exactly what I said" John said quietly. He sat back down.  
  
"So that's what you said about Phoenix. Yeah that makes sense. At least I'm in here for a decent reason." "What's that?" John asked. Lock closed his eyes. "I don't wanna talk about it." He left the room silently.  
  
(a/n) Well, don't worry, you will find out what happened to Lock and why so bear with me. I made the first match a little shorter with the kill limit, mainly because I didn't want to go on and on about the fighting. They will get a lot bigger later on though, and don't worry if John seems like a bit of a wimp at first, things will change. Please review. :) 


	4. Same old feelings

Fight for Freedom  
  
Chapter 4: New offerings  
  
(a/n) I would like to thank Dynamis and Miranon for reviewing my story. I will try to get a fight in Rankin for you, and I'll try to update every one or two weeks, I have a lot of spare time on my hands at the moment, so I should be able to update quite often. I might have to skip a couple of qualification maps because I don't want to bore you to death with them and take up half the story. I'm having real fun writing this story too. Read, enjoy, and review! :)  
  
Lock drifted freely up to the next platform. He was at his favourite arena. Morpheus3, the gravity was much lighter 12 miles high in the air than it was on ground. Lock found it easy to get the kills when people were exposed in the air.  
  
"Oh yeah!" Rae taunted at Virus as his body floated off the side of the building. Lock smiled and spotted Abbadon in the distance. It was a two-on- two match, so he could take more time getting his kills in.  
  
Abbadon jumped lightly into the next platform with ease, but as soon as he touched down, his head flew straight off his shoulders and landed next to his dead body. "Head shot!" the deep voiced announcer boomed in Lock's earpiece.  
  
Suddenly, Virus jumped down right in front of Lock, he opened up with his minigun and hit Lock several times in the chest, knocking him to the floor breathing heavily. Virus stood over him and pointed the minigun in his face, he cocked it. "Die human" he said in a robotic voice. Lock closed his eyes, when a shot rang out and Virus stumbled and went on one knee, another shot came and he fell flat on his face. Rae appeared behind the dead body.  
  
"Thanks." Lock said. Rae stretched her arm out and Lock grabbed it. A rocket flew in and hit the floor right next to them. Lock was killed instantly and Rae was thrown back against a pillar, she was then shot again and she slumped to the floor. "You suck!" Abbadon said.  
  
Lock and Rae respawned near each other and decided to stick together. "Let's kill those bastards." Lock said angrily and they grabbed a sniper rifle each and headed up the ramp to the main level. Virus came into view instantly, Rae gave him one in the chest, and then Lock finished him off. They both glided onto another platform and saw Abbadon reaching for the Redeemer. "Shit" Lock said under his breath. He fired off a round and hit Abbadon in the arm he was using to grab the weapon, and then hit him in the chest. He fell off the top of the small structure and fell in a heap.  
  
Meanwhile Rae had just killed Virus once more. She checked her wrist pad. 4 more kills to go before they won. She spotted Abbadon and aimed through the sight, took a deep breath and then-'click'. Rae swore and quickly ran up to get a Shock Rifle and some ammo for it. She drifted back down to where Lock was and saw a rocket hit him in the chest and he flew into a wall and was killed.  
  
Rae gritted her teeth and fired a shock ball, and then shot it with a normal shock beam and a large ball of energy burst out right next to Abbadon making him execute a nice front flip. "Die bitch!" she shouted at him and moved on to get the last kills done. She heard Lock taunt at Virus, she smiled and jumped towards the next platform, she was picked off in the air by Virus and her body fell all the way down and smashed into the platform next the Ion Painter.  
  
Lock grabbed the Redeemer and looked from his high vantage point for Virus or Abbadon. He couldn't see them anywhere. Suddenly, they both appeared from the edge off the platform he was on, they must have used the jump pad down below. He ducked behind the small structure, he could hold on with one hand because of the gravity. They landed safely on the platform. Lock popped up and fired the rocket and then ducked back behind the structure. There was a huge explosion, the whole place rumbled. "Double kill!" Lock felt weak and dropped to the floor.  
  
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John was watching the match from his cell. He was sitting on the couch with his armour on and ready to fight in his match after this one was done. He had a weight in his right hand and he was lifting it slowly up and down. He wasn't as nervous as he was in his last match. He had won his last match in the Roughinery against two other people by only 1 kill which was a complete fluke.  
  
Silhouette just happened to be in the wrong place when he fired a rocket at somebody else, but he ducked around a corner, and Silhouette jumped down and got it in the back.  
  
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Rae shot Virus in the stomach with a Shock rifle three times, and he finally fell to the floor. "Blue Team is the winner!" the announcer boomed. They all appeared back in the stadium and Virus and Abbadon looked angry. They were shouting and cursing a lot and the crowd did not approve.  
  
Lock was still very limp and weak after the explosion he suffered, but he wasn't hurt in any way. Rae put his arm over her shoulder and she walked with Lock who was limping back to the lift that took them down. The crowd was cheering for them, and Rae waved to them as the disappeared from view down the lift.  
  
John smiled at the TV and put the weight under the couch and walked slowly out to the lift. He scanned his ticket over the computer and it flashed green. The lift came down and the doors opened. Rae and Lock were there. Lock just managed to lift his head, look at John and say: "Good luck kid." His head dropped again and he and Rae went back to their cell. John rode the lift up.  
  
He got to the top and the commentator at least seemed a little more enthusiastic. "And in this match we have Viper, Silhouette, Hyena and Vengeance. They all came out different exits and the crowd cheered mainly for Hyena. He was the guy who John barely beat last match.  
  
They all walked up to the platform in the middle and Hyena slammed down hard on the button and the map stopped on Trite. "Well fans! We have a good change here in the maps; this should be a good fight!"  
  
"5....4....3....2....1....Begin!" John appeared in a small pool of water up to his shins and a Flak cannon lay in front of him. He picked it up and headed off to find somebody. Hyena jumped down in front of him. John closed his eyes and hit the trigger. "First Blood!"  
  
He saw Silhouette fighting with Vengeance up above him on a catwalk and John saw his chance, but he didn't get very far. Silhouette had killed Vengeance and had her sights set on him. She fired her minigun at him and was a feeble shot. Bullets deflected off the metal around him causing sparks and creating a distraction.  
  
He rushed towards her. Her weapon was out of ammo so she was easy pickings. John ran up and fired blowing her to pieces. Hyena came from around the corner and fired his rocket launcher at John. It hit him in the foot blowing him off the side of the catwalk, and fatally injuring him.  
  
John respawned and saw Vengeance, he fired at her with his Assault rifle but didn't really do anything to her. Before she could react John ran around a corner and found himself in a small room with some health vials and armour. He picked them up and ran back out in the open to pick up a rocket launcher.  
  
A lot of firepower was being exchanged up on the catwalk again. Hyena flew off the catwalk and then was volleyed off another rocket. It was hard to make out what was happening with all the smoke. When it cleared, only Vengeance was left so John fired a homing rocket at her and blew her to pieces.  
  
John checked his wrist pad. Kill limit was 15. He was on 3 and Hyena was ahead with 5 and Silhouette and Vengeance were trailing with 1 each. He needed to beat Hyena and get a few quick kills so he could get a good lead.  
  
The arena went quiet for a couple of minutes. John stopped and didn't hear anything. He ran up the catwalk again and picked up some adrenaline. He could feel his body getting pumped and ready. Suddenly, Hyena ran up the catwalk and John ducked around the corner. He waited for Hyena to come out and he fell right into his trap. He smashed him to pieces.  
  
"You like that?" Silhouette taunted at Vengeance and she came into John's view. He fired away with his rocket launcher. Closing both his eyes with every shot. She collapsed on the floor was about to die when Hyena came into view and shot her on the floor.  
  
"You bastard!" John said. He just stole John's kill right under his nose. "He's gonna pay!" John chased after him and found him dead with Vengeance running off around a corner. John chased and killed her, blowing her body across the room. His rocket launcher only had 2 rockets left. He didn't have another weapon after this one apart from his Assault rifle which was no good.  
  
John released the two rockets in a tight spiral and a large explosion engulfed Vengeance. He dropped the weapon and ran up the catwalk. He turned the corner of the T junction at the end of the catwalk and grabbed a lightening gun. Not his favourite weapon of choice.  
  
Silhouette came up the catwalk, John propped his gun around the corner and fired at her. She landed flat on her back and electricity flowed through her body making her twitch endlessly.  
  
The score was now 8 to John and Hyena was last with 6. The other two had caught up; John couldn't under estimate them either. He still had his lightening gun; he saw Vengeance and fired at her. All he got was a flash of gold every time he hit her. She turned and looked at John. "Oh crap" John mouthed. He was blown away with one fell swoop from a Flak cannon.  
  
John respawned next to a Flak cannon and took it gladly. He ran through the small pool and found Hyena with his back to him. John fired and blew him away with just a mangled body left behind. Minigun bullets chipped up around John's feet and he took cover.  
  
He peered around the corner and took a bullet in the side of the head. He clutched the wound and let out a scream. Blood escaped the side of his head and seeped through in between his fingers. John looked around again nothing was there. It was hard holding the Flak cannon in one hand.  
  
John was scared this time. This was the first time he had really been hurt. He wanted to stay in the corner and tend to his wound. But he had to win the match; he had to bring himself to it. He took a step out of the corner and saw Hyena; he fired at close range and blew him apart with his corpse smashing into a wall.  
  
The power of the gun nearly blew his whole hand off, but John kept going. He still had his hand clutched over the side of his head and blood was still coming out of it. He was starting to feel faint. He needed to find a med kit.  
  
There was a fight going on up on the catwalk again. John just fired a few shots off up into the fray and ended up killed Hyena. He ran around the corner and into a small room. There were some health vials and an armour pickup, but they weren't what John was really looking for. The health vials will have to do, they made him feel better, but the wound in his head was still throbbing. He ran out of the room and finally found a med kit. He felt very relieved when the pain in his head stopped hurting and he could carry on.  
  
He only had to get 5 more kills to win and he needed them fast. Vengeance jumped down from the catwalk and was met by the barrel of John's Flak cannon. 4 kills left.  
  
Hyena and Silhouette were in a heavy fire fight and they were both badly injured. John fired a ball of red hot metal in the middle and knocked out both of them with their bodies flying in opposite directions. "Double kill!" the announcer boomed.  
  
John was running low on ammo and needed to get the last kills. Hyena was up on the catwalk reigning terror with a lightening gun and anybody who walked through this area was going to get their head blown off.  
  
John made a dive to the ramp leading up to the catwalk and Hyena missed him. Silhouette was the perfect distraction. Hyena started firing at her and missed. John seized the chance and blew Hyena away, and the dropped down and killed Silhouette and her body neatly landed in the pool of water.  
  
"You have won the match!" the announcer shouted. John wiped the sweat off his forehead. They appeared back on the platform and the crowd cheered for John.  
  
"Viper! Viper! Viper!" they were chanting. Suddenly, the feeling he got in the arena was gone, and he wasn't proud or pleased anymore. He was confused, afraid and annoyed with himself.  
  
John didn't wave this time. He went down silently. Memories of what happened on the night of the murder flooded back to him. He felt like he had done worse than what the gang had done to the victim. Tears stung John's eyes again. He couldn't let people see him like this. He returned quietly to his cell and sat down on his couch and put his head in his hands.  
  
(a/n) Sorry again for making John a bit of a wuss out of the arena, but this shouldn't last for long. There will be a plot twist, but I'm working on how I will get it done. Thanks for reading. Please review! :) 


	5. New offerings

Fight for Freedom  
  
Chapter 5: New offerings  
  
(a/n) Thanks for your great reviews. I do like John's character because he's got to learn if he wants to get out of here. So, special thanks to Dynamis, Lacrease and Cursor. I'm having real fun writing this, and finally John should be able to meet his team and get some team matches in, and maybe even something like a CTF Joust or an Instgib match to mix things up. Plus Onslaught matches should appear soon too. Ok so, read, enjoy, and review! :)  
  
Phoenix was in his quarters that he had just received from beating Malcolm. There were pictures of him in his shining deep red armour raising his hand after he had just beaten Malcolm.  
  
A large cabinet next to the pictures was fixed to the wall .It was full of old tournament weapons; the Enforcer, Plasma gun and the Ripper. All of them were fully loaded and ready to use. He liked that. Phoenix had to debate with Lauren and Brock to take this cabinet off Malcolm, a fight nearly broke out but Phoenix called some more Liandri troops to back him up and Brock and Lauren had to give it up.  
  
He saw the hatred in their eyes when he left with the cabinet and the trophy, fortunately for all; there was a match next week between Fire Storm and the Iron Guard (a/n I kind of imagine Phoenix as Motig or something in deep red armour so he's in Fire Storm.)  
  
He heard footsteps in the room; Phoenix spun around and saw his computer assistant was there. "Erik. You finished with the computer?" "Uh, yes sir I am." Erik replied in a small geeky voice.  
  
They both headed down to the large computer room where screen and buttons flashed all sorts of different colours from yellow to white to green. Phoenix was impressed. This was the first time he had ever been down here and he liked it already.  
  
Erik led him up to a large screen with a huge keyboard below it. "What does this one do?" Phoenix asked. "Well, this is the computer that will let you adjust the matches. You can change everything from how many respawns each player gets, to what weapons you can have in the match, everything really." "Everything." Phoenix said quietly. "Well, or course if you want to change something big then you need to consult the Liandri first."  
  
"Well, they are just going to have to live with something different then won't they?" Phoenix said with a large grin on his face. "But sir, you can't do that. You have to resort to-"  
  
"-Do I look like the kind of guy who wants to follow orders?!" Phoenix shouted as he interrupted Erik. "But..." Phoenix looked Erik right in the eye and took a step towards him and picked him up by his throat.  
  
Erik was scared out of his skin and he was struggling for air. "Now, I'm going to do what I want with this computer and there is no way you, or anybody else is going to stop me. Do you have a problem with that?" Erik shook his head as much as he could, and he was about to faint. "And if you go and tell the Liandri what I'm doing, you know what will happen to you." Phoenix threw Erik across the room and he landed in a heap with blood coming out his mouth. Erik ran out of the room as fast as he could and Phoenix looked at the computer and smiled.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
John was in a small dark alley again. He heard shouting and screaming, and a gun shot broke the silence. There was laughing and John still couldn't see anything. He stumbled and leaned up against a wall.  
  
Suddenly, in the distance, a blurry image came out through the darkness. It was the gang again, attacking that poor man in the exact same place. One of the gang walked up to John and they were face to face, it was a familiar face but he couldn't make it out. "Good night" he said quietly. Another gunshot rang out and John saw his leg and blood was gushing out of the three holes again.  
  
John gasped and sat up on the couch. Sweat trickled down the side of his head. He quickly rolled up the right leg on his pants and saw the three holes and the gash up to his thigh. John let out a deep breath.  
  
John had never had a dream like that before. But that face, it seemed so familiar to him but he couldn't put his finger on it. It was only a dream though, and he couldn't let it get to him. John's father always told him that dreams were never real and never reflected life.  
  
John swung his legs over and put them firmly on the ground. The TV remote lay next to him. John picked it up and turned the TV on. No matches had started yet, so a timetable of when different ones would start came up. John's was the second match of the day at 8:30, the match before him was between The Corrupt and Black Legion.  
  
The TV flashed on and a match was underway. "Welcome sports fans to the first match of the day, and of course you can watch this match from any perspective at home if you want by hitting the 'cam' button twice and then your blue button."  
  
"The Corrupt are now just getting underway in their first match of the new tournament, and the hottest news is available with us and we have heard that Xan Kreigor is going to return to the tournament this year, but he is 'sitting out' the first matches of the year because he says they are 'below his standards'. Confident words there."  
  
The match started and there was an overview of the scoreboard and all the contenders were running around, jumping and shooting instantly.  
  
John couldn't sit here and watch the match; he needed to get ready for his one. He headed into the shower and got ready.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Lock had woken up and felt even more limp and weak than he did during the match, he had suffered some severe radiation damage, well that's what the doctor said anyway. The doctors in the Liandri are supposed to be the best in the world, and they need them because some bad injuries have come out of the tournament. It was a miracle Malcolm survived his injury. News on Malcolm had been that he was slowly recovering in hospital.  
  
Lock had been challenged to a 1-on-1 match today at Idoma. Lock wasn't sure if he could make it there let alone fight a match. If he called it off then he might have to pay a 500 credit fine for not going, but his team was starting to lose more money.  
  
Medical treatment cost the most, last match his team mate and friend Gunther nearly died as he had been injured to about 11% health. The treatment cost about 800 credits. He told his team to be more careful.  
  
A doctor came into Lock's cell and asked him how he was. Lock could barely speak. His energy was non-existent and he found it hard to lift his head and look at people. Lock was in a real bad way. "I'm going to call off your match today Lock. You're in no condition to fight."  
  
Lock let out a sigh of relief and flopped back onto the couch. The doctor left the cell, and Lock was on his own. He felt paralyzed, something much more than an explosion was in that Redeemer. It seemed unfair; he wished he had a second chance so he could have let himself die in the explosion as well so he wouldn't suffer like this.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
John was finally ready. I didn't feel right putting on his armour this time, that dream was still on his mind. He couldn't understand what it meant, why and how. None of it made sense to him.  
  
"Red team is the winner!" the commentator broke John's chain of thoughts and he quickly went off to the lift outside.  
  
The computer flashed green and the doors opened and the lift came down. The Corrupt team was on the lift. John took several steps back. He was scared and intimidated by them; the whole team must have been there, except for Xan of course. None of them made eye contact with John, well; John couldn't really make out where some of their eyes were. But at least he was slightly relieved that they didn't.  
  
John rode the lift up and his chain of thoughts came back to him. He was still puzzled by that face, it was so familiar, but he couldn't recognize it at all. John went through all people he knew, but nothing, his mind so blank and clueless yet it was so obvious. The lift reached the top and he was snapped back into life.  
  
"Welcome folks! This is the match that determines who moves up and gets to join a team, and who doesn't!" It seemed strange how the commentator could be so enthusiastic about something bad happening.  
  
4 people came into view from the other lifts. There were two juggernauts and two Egyptian fighters. "In this match we have the undefeated Viper! Natron! Avalanche and Tranquility! The crowd was a mixture of cheering and booing with banners going up around the stadium.  
  
John was more intimidated than ever. He had seen what some of these juggernauts did to people. Knock them hard into a corner and then shoot them repeatedly with a minigun. It was harsh. Avalanche walked up to the button with the crowd shouting insults and a beer can was thrown at him by an angry spectator, John sniggered as the can hit Avalanche in the back of the head.  
  
Avalanche slammed down on the button and it stopped on Desolation. The crowd went wild and the commentator for once didn't say anything. "5...4...3...2...1...Begin."  
  
John appeared on a ramp which had some form of see through material in the middle. He checked his wrist pad. Kill limit 15, which should be easy John thought.  
  
He ran down the ramp and picked up a link gun. Natron came around the corner with his back to John as he was shooting at Avalanche. "Natron drew first blood!" the announcer said. Natron wheeled around and John fired a beam right into his stomach, making him keel over clutching the wound and then breathing out a long breath and collapsing.  
  
John swapped his Link gun for Natron's minigun and ran headed through the middle of the arena. He ran over some adrenaline and then some health vials. He turned a corner and headed up another ramp. He found Perdition with a rocket launcher at the top of the ramp and he fired and hit John in the chest blowing him back down the ramp and he landed flat on his face.  
  
Perdition fired again and John rolled to the side and the rocket missed. John rolled back over onto his back and let rip with his minigun. He burst holes in Perdition's armour, and his body flew back and then slid back down the ramp.  
  
John headed up another ramp and turned a corner and saw Natron fly through the air and hit a wall and land in a crumpled heap with the sound of his bones being crushed. It made him jump and John nearly fell over. He turned the corner and saw Tranquility and he opened up with his minigun.  
  
Flashes of gold went all over her. She turned to fire back at John but he ducked back round the corner. Several rockets hit the corner he was behind making John move away from it.  
  
Natron ran up to the corner John was at and was blown back against the wall by John's minigun and was mangled by more bullets. John closed his eyes when memories of what he thought when Silhouette did that to him came back. He breathed out and headed back around the corner.  
  
Perdition was there again and he shot away at him, half way through his burst, John ran out of ammo. He dropped the minigun and made a dive for a rocket launcher but failed when a rocket threw him off balance and he tumbled on to the floor. Another rocket from Perdition blew John to the side and into the wall killing him. "Ownage!" Perdition shouted.  
  
The score was 4 to John and Avalanche was just behind him with 3. John respawned and picked up a Flak cannon. Tranquility turned the corner and was blown away by John; her body crashed and tumbled around the corner.  
  
There was a large fire fight going on one of the upper levels. John approached it carefully and saw Avalanche fly off the side with a large explosion engulfing him as he hit the floor. These juggernaut guys are really heavy, that must hurt.  
  
Soon after, Natron was blown off the side as well. Her leg clipped the side of the catwalk and made her land on her neck. Perdition dropped down and was blown away by John. Hot chunks of metal bounced off the walls around Perdition's dead body.  
  
John headed up on the catwalk and looked down on the action. "You suck!" Avalanche said loudly. Tranquility headed up towards the catwalk and didn't watch her back. Perdition came from behind her and blew her up the ramp and she smacked face first into the wall in front of her.  
  
John then opened up on Perdition and blew his left leg off as he lost his balance and fell over with blood pouring out where his leg used to be. Suddenly, Natron and Tranquility came round separate corners, they couldn't see each other, but they could see John. They both fired with their miniguns and tore John to shreds leaving a mangled torso behind.  
  
"Die bitch!" Natron taunted in John's earphone. Natron was the one about to die next. John picked up a rocket launcher and scored a direct hit in his back and blew him to bits.  
  
Through the smoke came Avalanche and he was blown away as well. His heavy body crashed into the side of the wall with a heavy thud. John gave a small smile as "double kill!" came through the earpiece.  
  
John felt a stabbing pain in his left leg and fell on his hands and knees. He clutched the wound with his right hand as he took another hit in other leg. John made an attempt to crawl towards a med kit but his legs couldn't take it.  
  
He didn't know where the shot came from but they were good ones. John was scared again, he could remember the pain in his leg from when he was shot by the gang. It felt the bullet had opened up old wounds. He felt like crying.  
  
It didn't last for long, Avalanche finished him off. He respawned with his leg still feeling strange but he could carry on. He picked up the Link gun and some link charges and headed off to find the action.  
  
John heard some fighting up ahead. A badly placed link shots went at John everyone missed. John wheeled around and saw Natron shooting at him. John fired a Link beam at him and melted away the armour and skin on his leg and Natron stumbled and fell flat on his back.  
  
John only needed 5 more kills to win. He felt confident he was going to win. He grabbed a Flak cannon and saw Tranquility limping towards a med kit. "Oh no you don't" John said and fired a ball of metal at her blowing her to pieces.  
  
John ran over some Flak ammo and loaded it into his gun. Perdition had a wound in his leg and was heading up the catwalk and John gave chase. He could catch up because of Perdition's bad leg, John caught up blew him away, making him fly off the side of the catwalk and landing with a sharp crack. Natron was back pedaling and didn't see Perdition's dead body and tripped over landing on her back. John saw his chance and killed her.  
  
John again got the memories of when Silhouette was ruthless to him and wished he didn't kill Natron like that. He wanted to drop the gun and give up. Doing it once in one match was horrible John thought. But twice! He couldn't bare it. He would have to save his emotions until after the match.  
  
Avalanche caught John off guard and fired at him with his minigun and hit John in the wrist pad smashing it and at the same time going through John's wrist. John retaliated and fired some red hot metal in Avalanche's face making both his hands grab his eyes instantly. John squeezed his eyes shut and blew Avalanche away again.  
  
Only one more kill to go. Tranquility was the unlucky one this time. She had just finished off Natron and was blown away with one shot from John's Flak cannon. Her body was thrown around by each piece of shrapnel, including the ones that deflected off the wall behind her.  
  
"You have won the match!" the announcer's deep voice boomed. John smiled and nodded. He didn't want to taunt, he wasn't in the mood. They all returned to the platform and people were cheering and whistling. "Viper! Viper! Viper!" He had heard it before, but he didn't feel proud of what he just did. He wanted to be left alone.  
  
John went back down the lift ignoring the crowd and the doors opened at the bottom and a message was next to the ticket scanning machine.  
  
"Congratulations. You have now been entered into the Unreal Tournament 2004 championships. Please take this card and show it to the person at the desk. He or she will assign you to a team of your choice." A small card popped out of the side of the machine and John took it. He then returned to his cell.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
John got back and sat down on his couch and sighed. He couldn't let these same emotions keep catching up on him. If he did, it wouldn't be long before he would be over powered by them and have a nervous break down.  
  
John put his hand down by his side and felt a small note in between his fingers. He picked it up and looked at it. 'Room #262'. It was signed by Lock, John better head over there; he knew what it was going to be.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
John was walking slowly counting up the numbers as he went along. "259........260....261.......262." John peered around the corner and saw a whole different bunch of people in there. He couldn't see Lock or Rae in there at all though. He took his chances and asked the crowd of people.  
  
"Hi guys. Um...is Lock or Rae here?" They all looked at John with a deadly stare. John took half a step back. All at the same time they pulled out Shock rifles and Miniguns. They cocked them and pointed them at John.  
  
"Oh crap" John said. "Hold your fire boys!" a female voice rang out and broke the tense silence. A woman came out of one of the rooms. It was Rae. John let out a big sigh of relief.  
  
"Oh my god Rae. You scared the shit out of me." John said nervously. Rae laughed and told the rest of the people in the room to put their guns down.  
  
"Where's Lock?" John asked. "He's resting. He still has no energy from what happened in that blast. Even I feel a little weak today. He's a sleep in the little spare room we have. He told me to give you this."  
  
She held out a small chip and gave it to John.  
  
"Put this in the small slit in the back of your armour and it will change according to witch colour and team you are on. Lock would give it to you personally, but you know." "Thanks." John replied. He examined the chip and held it tightly in his hand.  
  
"Now, let me introduce you to the rest of the team." Rae walked over to a tall man with a white colourless eye and put her hand on his shoulder which was almost above her head. "This is Gunther." He reached his hand out to greet John. John shook his cold metal hand and smiled at him.  
  
Rae then walked over to a slightly shorter person with what looked like an orange one piece armour suit. "This here is Vick, or Whiplash, as he's called in the arena."  
  
Vick wasn't as friendly as Gunther. He nodded at John and showed no facial expressions. A scar reached all the way from his temple to the side of his neck. John bet he looked quite intimidating in the arena.  
  
Another woman came up behind John and nudged him on the shoulder. She looked at Rae and said: "Who the hell is this guy?" "This is John. John this is Amon." Rae said as if she was the guest at a party.  
  
"Hi." She seemed quite a happy person considering her situation. "John shook her hand said 'hi' back. There was a moment of silence and John looked at Amon. She brown hair that came down to her shoulders just like Rae's, and she had her arms bare with a tattoo that covered most of her upper arm. It looked pretty neat. She wore heavy metal boots like Rae too.  
  
"Well. So this is just about everybody here. Now you can go to the front desk and join the team. Go do it now, I'll tell Lock." John nodded and looked at everybody else and didn't get a reaction. He slowly moved his eyes towards the floor, and headed off.  
  
(a/n) Well, sorry if that was quite a long chapter. Man, Phoenix does have a short temper. Something didn't feel right when I was writing that fight scene. Tell me if you can point out what it was or whether it was just me being self conscious. Phew! Two chapters in two days. Can't say anything about me not updating can you? Just kidding, well, please try to review and the next chapter should be on its way. :) 


	6. In at the deep end

Fight for Freedom  
  
(a/n) Thank for your nice reviews. Again I'd like to thank Lacrease, Dynamis and Cursor. Don't worry about the team being introduced to John at gunpoint. I'm going to make these guys a pretty edgy bunch. Hopefully it should mean that I can mix things up. So, John should be able to get some good team matches in now with his new team and we can see if he gets a long or not...  
  
Read, enjoy, and review! :)  
  
Chapter 6: In at the deep end  
  
John had just been back from the reception desk to get into the team. John was glad he was now in a team. He felt like an outsider when other people were around him with teams, he felt unstable. But thinking about it, it didn't look like the rest of his team was very stable.  
  
It was late afternoon, and it was at this time the fighters, or 'prisoners' as John calls them, were allowed to take a break outside the Tournament. Of course you couldn't go all the way off into the city; if you did then Liandri would be all over you.  
  
John was surprised to see that nobody was outside enjoying the free time they had. The whole place was abandoned. A pristine lake was in the middle of the small park outside. It was very scenic. A large forest lay in the distance, it set a nice background.  
  
The sun reflected off the lake hurting John's eyes when he looked at it, the grass was cut short and even all the way around the park. Trees and benches were scattered all around the lake and elsewhere.  
  
Ducks landed in the lake and started going vertical in the water with their heads submerged; their back legs kicking around in the air. They all came up at the same time and swished the water around in their beaks and spat it back out. Another flock of small birds flew into the sunset. John smiled; it was so stereotypical.  
  
"Only when something is gone to you really appreciate what you once had." It was Lock. 'Who else?' John thought to himself. "I heard that quote when I was about seven." Lock carried on. "My dad said it to me when he banned me from my video games for three weeks because I had been horrible to my sister." He chuckled.  
  
John smiled. He didn't have any brothers or sisters. His dad had moved out when he was two and when John was twenty his mother was killed in a car accident. John realized how much he had been through up until this point. It was strange, some of it must have made John angrier and given him more reason to be here, but he knew it couldn't have.  
  
"You alright?" Lock asked. He sat down on the bench next to John. John nodded and Lock smiled. "Sorry I couldn't be there for your introduction to the team. That Redeemer really took it out of me. Don't fire a Redeemer close to your enemy unless you want to commit suicide as well, there's a tip for you." John smiled and laughed slightly. He was still looking at the floor.  
  
"When's our first match?" John asked as he looked up from the ground. "Tomorrow, first thing in the morning. We better get some shut eye if we want to do well. Our team is about 3 matches away from getting to the top of the Capture the Flag ladder. Xan's team is top at the moment, but one of Xan's team is down and out, so we'll have the upper hand." Lock seemed confident.  
  
John and Lock didn't say anything to each other for a while. They were admiring the view. The sound of the water lapping up against the side of the lake was relaxing; John wanted to stay out here forever.  
  
Suddenly, a large alarm went off and echoed all around the park area, breaking the silence. "Well, we gotta head back now." Lock said as he stood up. John stood up as well, and they both headed back towards the building. Neither of them was being very social, they didn't really know what to say to each other.  
  
It really looked like Lock had something on his mind. Something that made him feel uncomfortable around John, he didn't know what it was, but he didn't want to ask if it really was something personal the John would choose not to hear. He kept quiet.  
  
They both returned to their cells and said good night to each other. Lock said it whilst still looking at the floor, John knew something was up with him but he didn't want to make a fuss of something that could be big or small. John watched Lock return to his cell and lie down. John then went into his and did the same.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Xan had just walked away from the reception desk and was heading into the red bunker. His heavy footsteps echoed throughout all of the cells. A few curious people peeked out only to duck back in again at the sight of Xan. Matrix heard the footsteps and instantly recognized who it was. He poked his head around the corner and saw Xan coming towards the cell.  
  
Xan entered the room and Matrix pretended that he didn't see him coming towards the room. Everybody else in the room sat up and looked at him. None of them showed any emotion, most of them couldn't. They nodded at him and some said "welcome back Xan". All of them sensed that Xan was smiling.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
John inserted the chip in the back of his armour and it flashed blue, then red, then back to blue again. A small symbol appeared in the center of the chest armour. It looked like four small little comets surrounded in flames. John looked at himself in the mirror, and then walked out to the lift.  
  
John flashed his wrist pad at the scanner and it accepted and the light went green. The lift came down and the doors opened. As the lift went up John caught a glimpse of Rae coming around the corner, he couldn't stop the lift so he just carried on. The lights flickered as he slowly went up the floors.  
  
The flashes triggered John's memory. The dream came back, the face, he still didn't have an answer. John closed his eyes and tried to see more clearly, but the more he concentrated on it the more he feared it. He took a deep breath and concentrated on the dream again.  
  
The figure started to become clearer, it was the shape of a woman this time. This never happened before, but this time it felt clearer and it made more sense. This opened up so many different answers to John, but he still had no idea who it could be. He thought back to when he just saw Rae coming around the corner. That didn't make sense.  
  
He thought of Amon, there was nothing there either. He couldn't take his mind off it. The lift reached the top and John snapped out of his visions. He stumbled slightly as he stepped off the lift and he leant up against the wall next to him.  
  
John looked to see who else was there. Gunther and Vick were there. John didn't know if Vick wanted to be called Vick or Whiplash. Gunther nodded at John and he did the same back.  
  
John eyes moved over to Whiplash and he couldn't take his eyes off the huge long scar that ran down the side of his face and neck. Vick noticed John looking; he frowned at him and turned his head so John couldn't see the scar anymore. John looked back down on the floor.  
  
Rae and Lock came up from the lift and walked to meet the rest of the team silently. Rae walked off ahead and Lock came up to John.  
  
"Nervous?" John shrugged. "Don't worry about being with a bunch of strangers, it does seem like some of these guys are unstable, and hell, they are, but that's what is good about them. I met most of them in the Human/Skaarj war. It's really no wonder why these guys are ruffed up. You try going to the frontline in that war."  
  
"What am I gonna have to do in there?" John pointed to the platform up ahead where they would enter the match. "Just follow what I say." Lock said simply. "If you do your job, then everyone else can do their job, no questions asked. It's easy."  
  
A large crowd had started to appear and they were getting impatient. Amon came up from the lift and greeted everybody with a happy face. "Hey guys." She said, and walked up to meet Rae.  
  
"Welcome sports fans to another day in the Unreal Tournament! We've got loads of great matches for you coming up later today. Including Fire Storm and the Iron Guard with our tournament champion fighting in this one! Plus, some hot news for all you loyal fans out there. Today saw the return off Xan Kreigor!"  
  
The crowd was a mixture of boos and cheers when they heard the name. Most of John's team said "Shit" all at the same time. Gunther breathed out and looked at the ceiling. 'Well, at least they have a half decent commentator now.' John thought to himself.  
  
The two commentators went on for a while talking about other matches and how Xan's influence the tournament this year. Finally they got onto their match.  
  
"But now, we have the first match of the day which is between Kill Switch and the Juggernaut team! This should be a good match today, especially seeing as Kill Switch does have a new recruit on its team. We've been following him for a while in the qualification matches, and he is undefeated, Viper!" The crowd cheered slightly, few of them barely recognized the name.  
  
"We understand Viper is here to replace their critically injured team mate Talon. He's in at the deep end here, so let's see how he gets on."  
  
Lock nodded and they started walking forward. John had to shout to be heard even though Lock was right next to him. "What happened to Talon then?!" John shouted to Lock. "He got injured by an angry Skaarj! Beat the poor kid nearly to death! Poor bastard!" Lock shouted back.  
  
John felt un-nerved after hearing that, but at least he wasn't up against them now. The Juggernauts were coming along the small walk way opposite his team. They were crazy. They banged on the side of things and shouted at the crowd. They were big, and really intimidating. He was amazed that Rae and Vick can stand right next to them and not be afraid.  
  
The crowd never approved of the Juggernauts. Their behaviour put people off, and one of the highlights of the year last tournament was Gorge smashing one of his fans right to the back of the stadium with one blow.  
  
The team stood on the platform as one big group and the Juggernauts did the same. Lock came forward and slammed down on the button with his fist. 'Moon Dragon' was the map. The crowd went wild and the commentators said their usual crap about the map.  
  
"5......4.....3.....2......1....fight"  
  
"Gunther and Viper, you two stay on defense. All the rest, go for the flag!" Lock said over the radio. Gunther and John spawned near each other.  
  
"Go cover the right side of the building. I'll take the left!" Gunther said. The map was quiet. Nobody had gone on the attack yet. John picked up a Shock rifle and a shock core. He ran up some stairs and found himself, on top of the base looking over the right side of the map. He checked his wrist pad. Score limit 4.  
  
"Lock drew first blood!" came through the earpiece. "Oh yeah!" he heard Lock exclaim. The floor was all stone with scattered patches of grass everywhere. When John looked to his left, he could see the direct entrance to the base. There was a large crest in the middle of the map, and then there was a sharp slope going down both sides. The map was a reflection basically, and there was a small bridge that had a lightening gun on it on both sides of the blue area.  
  
John was looking at the bridge, when suddenly, a bolt of lightening missed John's face by an inch. It made him jump and he looked down at the direct entrance to the base. It was Gorge, the juggernauts were slow big targets, but they were strong and took a lot of hits.  
  
John opened up with his Shock rifle and hit Gorge in the side of the head, he gave him another blow in the leg with knocked him off balance, and he was nearly going down. John kept firing and hitting and Gorge eventually hit something vital in his back and steam burst out from his large metal body, he collapsed on the floor and died.  
  
Just when John finished off Gorge, Ambrosia came over the bridge with the lightening gun and fired at John. A bolt of electricity hit him in the leg and there was a sharp pain.  
  
John was on higher ground than her so he could get more shots in. He repeatedly shot at her head, some missing and some giving her big blows knocking her down. She was on one knees and John finished her with a shot in the stomach.  
  
"Man down!" John had heard that being said a lot over the radio. Lock respawned and took John by surprise and he nearly shot at him. Soon after, Rae respawned, and so did Amon, they must be going through hell at the red base. Amon ran into Gorge and John saw the small fight in the distance.  
  
Amon cut Gorge to pieces with her minigun and was shouting at him as she shot him, each bullet knocking him back and immobilizing him for a split second. He couldn't get a shot in. John spotted Ambrosia coming over the small bridge and he was about to shoot when she was blown off the side of it and was killed when she landed along side her detached leg.  
  
John headed back down into the base to get more ammo and maybe a better weapon. He grabbed a GES Bio-rifle just incase and a rocket launcher. He headed back up to his post.  
  
An explosion erupted throughout the red base. Lock grabbed the flag and ran as fast as he could out of there. He came out through the side and was met by Frostbite. Lock disposed of him quickly with his flak cannon and he dashed over the small bridge and in to the center of the map.  
  
He was on the center bridge and there was a super shield pack in the center. He picked it up and instantly bullets flew in from all directions. Flashes of gold flew all over Lock body and he smiled as bullet after bullet had no effect on him.  
  
John saw Lock running in with the flag and he looked for anybody following him, he couldn't see any. Lock was just about to get into the base when rockets flew in from every direction and one hit Lock in the leg making him fall.  
  
Another rocket flew in and killed him. "Shit" John said and dropped down to take the flag. He sprinted to his flag with bullets chipped up at his heels. Bullet holes were being torn in the flag and John jumped and smashed the flag into his own and scored.  
  
"Blue team takes the lead!" the announcer said. John was panting and then realized; he didn't lose the people who were chasing him. As soon as he thought it, Gorge came around the corner and fired a rocket; it hit John square in the stomach.  
  
He was thrown back against the wall and was about to die when Gunther came from outside and shot at Gorge with his Flak cannon. Unfortunately, he only postponed John's death. Gunther was killed by a rocket and John suffered the same death as him.  
  
"Blue flag taken!" the announcer said. John respawned, grabbed a minigun and chased after Gorge. He spotted him in the distance and shot at him. The minigun was inaccurate at this long range.  
  
"Get a pincer movement on him people!" Lock shouted over the radio. "Roger that!" Rae, Amon and Vick said. It wasn't long before the announcer said: "Blue flag returned".  
  
"Well done guys! Just like we practiced it!" Lock said happily. Gunther ran up next to John.  
  
"You doing good?" he asked. "Yeah I'm fine" John replied. "Don't worry about that pincer movement thing. It's something they do to stop the flag carrier from getting home, hasn't failed once yet!" Gunther said and ran off to defend his side of the base.  
  
Gorge was making another attempt for the front entrance. John loaded up three rockets and homed them in on Gorge as a spiral. Gunther did the same. 6 rockets pounded Gorge into to the ground and there was nothing left.  
  
John heard Gunther laughing over the radio. "Nice one man!" John laughed a bit as well. It was the first time he had laughed in the tournament.  
  
Vick and Amon were staying together and trying to work towards the base using separate ways. Then they could make an opening for Lock so he could grab the flag.  
  
"You take the left, I'll take the right!" Vick said down the radio to Amon and she agreed. Vick rushed in the base and cleared the flag area of Reinha. "Area secure" he said and waited for Amon to appear.  
  
"I'm under heavy attack!" she screamed as she was nailed into just a pair of legs from Ambrosia's flak cannon. Lock came through the way Vick did and Ambrosia was blown into view and she landed next to the flag.  
  
"After you." He said politely. Lock took the flag and Vick followed. The sprinted out the main entrance and met no resistance. 'This isn't right' Lock thought to himself. They both made it over the main center bridge and still met nothing.  
  
Suddenly, every single Juggernaut appeared from separate corners and surrounded Lock and Vick. Lock breathed out. "Oh shi-  
  
John heard loads of rockets going off at the same time and it was very loud. "Red flag returned". Now the Juggernauts were on an all out attack. "Defense positions!" Gunther screamed over the radio.  
  
Vick and Amon joined John and Lock and Rae joined Gunther in defense. "Get ready kid." Amon said as all 5 of the juggernauts charged over the steep hill.  
  
There was a tremendous noise as everybody armed a rocket launcher and let rip at the same time. Rockets pounded into the ground all around the Juggernauts. Explosions ripped through their full on charge. Ambrosia took three direct hits and had the momentum to do a full front flip in the air before crashing down.  
  
Gorge was also pounded by rockets. They were all so heavy and had so much momentum going down the hill that they couldn't stop, even when they had been killed. Gorge skidded down the hill with great speed and came to an abrupt halt when he hit the front of the base.  
  
John looked up at the rest of the team firing away. Rae took a rocket in the face blowing her backwards and off the perch the rest of the team was on.  
  
As the smoke cleared from the fighting, three large bodies lay dead at the bottom of the hill. That means two must have made it into the base. Lock looked at John. "Now John, I want you to go into their base for me, and get their flag while we hold them up. Ok go!"  
  
John nodded and dropped down and sprinted off towards the red base. Lock saw John run off and told the rest of the team to find the two that got in the base.  
  
John was on the center bridge, he didn't want to get spotted or he would be dead. He picked up a shield pack on the bridge and ran underneath the small bridge with the lightening gun on it and waited for Ambrosia to go over it so John could sneak past.  
  
John was one small sprint away from the base. He looked to see if it was clear and ran into the side of it. He headed down some steps and saw the flag in front of him. He grabbed it and ran out.  
  
He went out, under the bridge and back across the center, then he sprinted towards his own base, he came under light fire but it wasn't enough to stop him. John ran through and scored.  
  
"Blue team increases their lead!" the announcer said. "Ok everybody let's just attack!" Lock shouted over the radio. John got his breath back and followed Rae. The juggernauts weren't ready. The team pounded through their defense and stole the flag with ease.  
  
"Everybody cover Gunther!" Lock said. Gunther was carrying the flag and nobody wanted him to drop it now. The team scored with basically no conformation.  
  
"Oh come on this is too easy!" Amon said. But the Juggernauts were changing tactics.  
  
John was put back on defense along with Gunther, they were confident that they were going to win. There were only 3 minutes left anyway. 1 man down the middle, and two on each side. That was the juggernauts' plan. It would easily over power two men on guard.  
  
John was looking around the scenery with his rocket launcher ready, when he saw Gorge running straight down the middle, John fired on him, but two more men came from the side and blew John out of the picture. It happened on Gunther's side too. "Blue flag taken" the announcer said  
  
Lock got nervous when he heard that. He sprinted for the flag and grabbed it. The juggernauts had made a lot of progress. As soon as he exited the side of the base, he was blown away by Gorge who had the flag.  
  
"Red team scores!" Lock gritted his teeth and was angry. "1 minute left" the announcer said. John breathed a sigh of relief; there was no way they could win now.  
  
"Ok, still, remember people, if they score and match ours we'll go into over time. So lets all defend this place." Lock shouted loudly.  
  
The juggernauts did the same plan again, but this time, only one got through which was on Gunther's side. "10.....9.....8...." John jumped down and started shooting at Frostbite who was just about to take the flag. "6...5....4....3..."  
  
John managed to get a lucky hit in a valve in his leg. More smoke poured out of it and he lost balance and collapsed. "2.....1.....Blue team is the winner!"  
  
They all appeared back in the stadium. The crowd went wild. "What match that was ladies and gentlemen! Kill Switch wins on time limit score 3-1!" The crowd cheered even more. Amon loved every minute of it.  
  
She was waving at all the cute guys and blowing kisses to everyone. The juggernauts went crazy. Gorge the team captain started shouting at his team. He smacked Frostbite across the chest and he retaliated.  
  
Frostbite punched Gorge in the side of the face with his huge metal hand. Gorge swung back and punched him in the stomach repeatedly. The crowd loved the brutal fighting. John watched in amazement as they really did beat the crap out of each other.  
  
It wasn't long before Liandri officials came in and used small guns that shot bursts of electricity out the end. One guard lunged forward and zapped Gorge in the neck paralyzing him for a few minutes. They did the same for Frostbite, and then told the rest of the team to take them away seeing as they were the only ones who could carry them.  
  
The crowd focused back on John and the team. Lock and Gunther were laughing and Rae hugged Vick. Vick didn't react at all; he stood there with a serious face, but managed a slight smile at the most. Amon was still blowing kisses and cheering. John felt strange again, but couldn't help but smile and laugh....  
  
(a/n) Sorry about another big chapter, sorry if I bored you to death. Well, there you go. I enjoyed writing this match. Looks like they are a pretty organized team with some good tactics, and John seems to have proven himself with his team. Good for him! Please review! :) 


	7. AntiSocial Secrets

Fight for Freedom  
  
(a/n) Thanks for all your nice reviews, Lacrease and Dynamis especially. Wow, didn't know that you guys hated Gorge so much. So, he's a stupid, fat, metal dumb ass. What's not to like? Heheh :) Well, Xan is back so you can bet Phoenix won't be happy about it at all. Plus Malcolm should be back soon, in time for the tournament finals. Things should be hotting up in the tournament now (my god, I sound like one of those annoying commentators). Read, enjoy, and review! :)  
  
Chapter 7: Anti-Social Secrets  
  
Xan jumped over the gap in the small narrow bridge and ran to pick up the super shield pack. He dropped down the side of the steps and ran through the archway.  
  
He ran into the main blue area saw Gaargod. He quickly ducked behind a pillar and waited for him to run past.  
  
As he did, Xan leapt on him and pounded him in the back of the head until he was barely alive, and shot him with his Shock rifle on the floor.  
  
A bullet deflected off Xan's back and he wheeled around and found Skakruk with a minigun shooting at him. Xan fired and hit Skakruk in the head and he dropped to the floor dead.  
  
Xan made a dash for the flag and grabbed it. He jumped off the small platform and landed on the floor, both his metal feet crashing down on the stone surface.  
  
Gaargod and Drekorig leapt out from separate passages, they surrounded Xan. Virus came through the doors into the same room, creating the perfect distraction.  
  
Xan spun and hit Gaargod in the face with his sharp elbow. Drekorig swung with the large blades on the end of his right hand. Xan ducked and the blades wedged into Gaargod's chest.  
  
Green blood poured down the front of his chest and Drekorig tried to pull it out but it was firmly stuck in. He yanked it once more and the Skaarj's blood burst everywhere and the gaping wound in Gaargod's chest made him drop lifelessly to the floor.  
  
Xan used the moment to shoot Drekorig in the face with his shock rifle and keep moving. He exited the room and Virus covered him. Virus went to pat Xan on the back and as soon as his hand moved anywhere near Xan, he batted it away and nearly made Virus fall over.  
  
"Blue flag taken" the announcer said. Virus and Xan headed over the main bridge to the direct entrance. Guardian came out the opposite side with the red flag.  
  
Xan saw him and ran faster straight ahead and smashed Guardian on the floor with his shoulder. Guardian fell on his back. Xan picked him up by the neck and hung him over the side of the bridge by his throat.  
  
Guardian looked down the crevasse. He couldn't see the bottom, it faded out of sight. He growled and stabbed Xan in the chest with his claws and wrenched out some computer chips and wires.  
  
Xan grunted in pain and dropped Guardian off the side. He disappeared from view. Xan's arm was out of control, Guardian must have pulled out some vital parts, but he carried on running.  
  
Xan ran into his flag room and scored. "Red team scores!" the announcer said. The score was 3-3, and there was five minutes left. A Redeemer went off, making the ground shake. Xan felt the earth tremor and went out onto the direct route across the bridge.  
  
He looked at the aftermath. Bodies slowly toppled off the edge of structures and fell into the crevasse. Cathode's body lay crumpled in a heap with sparks flying off her body.  
  
Traces of Skaarj's blood were everywhere too, this meant that most of them would be respawning now, and Xan would have to face them all if he went in.  
  
'I can take on two Skaarj, why not three or four?' Xan thought to himself. He would have to be careful and quiet if he wanted to make it back with the flag and score.  
  
Xan went from pillar to pillar, they gave him good cover and he could pounce on any of them when he wanted. The doors to the blue flag room opened and all the Skaarj team ran out.  
  
Xan ducked behind and called for back up. He could take most of them, but he wasn't stupid. Cathode, Axon and Virus came through the main entrance, they saw Xan and let rip on the five Skaarj.  
  
Dominator was ripped to shreds by two miniguns and instantly went down. The Skaarj started to run up to the three mechs and missed Xan hiding behind one of the pillars.  
  
Xan leapt on the back of the first one he saw. It was Skakruk; he wrapped his arm around Skakruk's neck and rolled sideways so he landed on top of him.  
  
His plan went perfectly and he smashed the poor Skaarj's face in, and then killed him with a shot from his shock rifle.  
  
Axon had just had his computer insides clawed out by Guardian and was thrown across the room. Drekorig had picked Cathode up off the ground with his claws embedded in her chest.  
  
Sparks flew everywhere and bolts of electricity zapped Drekorig in the arm making him twitch. Virus was the only one left and fired a shock combo at Drekorig. It killed him, Cathode (she was as good as dead) and Gkublok; their bodies flying in separate directions and landing with their legs half gone and other limbs.  
  
Xan saw the chance and climbed off the dead Skaarj and ran for their flag. His arm was still twitching, getting worse and worse all the time. He reached with his good hand for the flag and strapped it to his back.  
  
Gkublok appeared from around a corner and Xan jumped on him. Xan's bad arm went wild when it touched Gkublok, sending hundreds of volts through both their bodies. It happened for a second, and they both dropped dead on the floor.  
  
"Blue flag dropped. Blue taken!" the announcer said. It must have been Virus who took it, he was the only one there. Xan saw Virus running over the main bridge he grabbed a minigun to cover him.  
  
Suddenly, Virus' head flew right off his shoulders and his body landed in a heap and slid off the side of the narrow bridge. Xan didn't seem surprised and ran to pick up the flag on the bridge.  
  
He saw the Skaarj coming over in the opposite direction. Xan picked up the flag and turned around, when a pair of spikes burst through Xan's back and out through his chest.  
  
Xan let out a scream of pain and it was Guardian getting his revenge on Xan for dropping him off the side of the bridge.  
  
Guardian lifted him up; Xan was still screaming in agony, it was very unlike him. He lifted him up by the spikes over the side of the bridge. The weight of Xan started to affect the spikes, but they were held tight in position.  
  
Xan was heavy and the spikes started to rip through his chest and up towards his shoulders. The weight was too much, the spikes ripped up and out of Xan's shoulders and he fell to his death.  
  
"Blue flag returned" Xan was angry and his shoulders hurt from the wound. He grabbed a minigun and opened up on the first Skaarj he saw. It was Skakruk, bullets ripped through his skin and he fell to the floor.  
  
Xan charged over the bridge, and made it into the red flag room. Dominator was guarding the flag; he didn't do much good at stopping Xan. He tore through him and Xan grabbed the flag.  
  
"Red flag taken" the announcer said in Xan's earpiece. He ran along the side on the upper parts and ran past the Bio-Rifle, ignoring it.  
  
Xan saw Cathode being blown into the air and collapsing on her head with a crunch. Guardian ran around the corner and took a few hundred minigun bullets in the back and fell right in front of Xan.  
  
Gkublok had the red flag and was back pedaling when he bumped into Xan. Xan grabbed his shoulder, spun him round so he was facing him, and smacked him in the face. Gkublok fell and Xan blew his face off using the last bullets in his minigun.  
  
Xan retuned the flag and ran into the room with his flag and scored.  
  
"Red team is the winner!" the announcer boomed in his deep voice. Xan punched the air and laughed.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Dammit!" Phoenix shouted as he banged his fist on the table in front of him. Phoenix had just been watching the match on Neurovision, he didn't want Xan to win, whoever won the capture the flag match would win the ladder and have a shot at him.  
  
Phoenix was a coward, if anyone every said that to him they would be dead by the time they finished their sentence. He didn't want to face Xan, he was scared of him.  
  
Phoenix's only hope was that Malcolm got Thunder Crash back up and beat Xan's team in the next capture the flag match. Xan had already qualified for a shot at Phoenix, but if Malcolm got there, then they would have to go head-to-head to see who goes through.  
  
Phoenix would much prefer to face Malcolm than Xan, his brutality frightened Phoenix. He would admit that he was exceptionally brutal himself, but Xan surpassed his level of violence all together.  
  
What he did to some of those Skaarj was unbelievable; some of them were treated immediately after they had come back out. Others had gashes of blood on their faces, and most of their faces had been smashed as well.  
  
But then Phoenix thought, Malcolm would be worse for him because he beat him and critically wounded him last tournament. That would surely make him angrier towards him.  
  
Phoenix thought hard on it, and his concentration was broken with the sound of Malcolm's theme tune was played loudly on the TV. Phoenix recognized the hard rock song instantly.  
  
"And here we are fans! The surprise return of Malcolm, our ex tournament champion! He's here to regain his title after he lost it to Phoenix, and he's healthier than ever for this year. The only thing standing in is way though, is Xan Kreigor! This going to be one hot tournament this year!"  
  
The commentator turned to his assistant and he started talking in the same way. Malcolm strode out calmly with Annika and Riker behind him. He was undoubtedly the coolest guy in the tournament, and the crowd was behind him all the way.  
  
Phoenix smiled and sat back in his chair, he relaxed, got out of his chair, and headed down to the computer room.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Lock had called all his team together for a talk on how things were going in the tournament. John was the last person enter Lock's cell where they were meeting.  
  
Amon and Gunther were talking and making jokes about each other.  
  
"It doesn't matter anyway. Your head is so far up Lock's ass that the lump in his throat is your nose." She smiled and laughed at her joke.  
  
"Oh come on! Hell, it doesn't matter anyway. Malcolm's gonna beat Xan and then we'll beat them, it's easy." Gunther said in a very relaxed tone.  
  
"Thing is, it don't matter what we do. You just trust the guy next to you; you can do your job." Vick butted in quietly  
  
"As long as he's Kill Switch." Amon finished off Vick's sentence.  
  
"You say that Amon! Shit, you don't know the difference man! You know last match you nearly mistook Gorge for me god dammit!" Gunther couldn't stop laughing.  
  
Amon smiled looked down and went quiet; Vick as usual didn't find anything amusing. John saw the conversation had stopped and entered the room.  
  
"Hi guys. How's it going?" John said nicely.  
  
"Hey John, what time you call this? Didn't think you would show up." Amon was happy to see John and greeted him nicely. Rae stood next to Vick as Lock stood at the front of the room.  
  
"Well, glad to see you all showed up first. Now, the question that's on everyone's mind here is: who's gonna get a shot at Phoenix. Most people are pretty sure that it's gonna be Malcolm or Xan. We're fourth in the standings and the Juggernauts are right behind us, we beat them, so they are not a problem anymore. The real problem is The Corrupt, and Thunder Crash. Since Malcolm has come back, the chances are, that Xan and Malcolm are going to have a showdown, and that could take his mind off things, and we can swipe the title for the CTF easily."  
  
Lock carried on talking. Amon scoffed and leaned over to Gunther and whispered in his ear.  
  
"Yeah right, like we're gonna beat Thunder Crash. He didn't even mention that Iron Skull. We gotta get past them first."  
  
"Shut up" Gunther said quietly and carried on listening.  
  
"So, the overall point of this talk is simple." Lock continued. "We get this ladder; it should open up the Assault match ladder. I know most of you guys will specialize in these matches, seeing as most of your parents were in the operations, and have told you about it. We have got the Bombing Run and Double Domination in the bag, now we just need these other two. So, these next few weeks are gonna be pretty frantic, so I want you to train hard, and do your best. I'm counting on you guys out there."  
  
Gunther was the only one who clapped, but it was half hearted and died out instantly. Amon laughed at him and they started arguing again. John rolled his eyes and went over to talk to Rae.  
  
"Wow, Lock's pretty good at those kinda speeches huh?"  
  
"Yeah I guess." Rae answered quickly and looked for somebody to talk to. She walked over to Vick. 'Vick is more social than me? C'mon.' John thought to himself.  
  
Lock sat down and looked over the room. He felt quite proud of them, he was confident that his team was going to win, and take it all the way to the finals. John sat down next to him.  
  
"Nice talk there." John said as he sat down. Lock smiled and lightly punched John in the shoulder.  
  
"We need every man we can get right now. I'm counting on you." Lock smiled and got up to talk to Rae.  
  
John sighed and looked up at the ceiling. He decided to head back to his cell. Soon after, the rest followed and Lock and Rae were alone in their cell.  
  
"You still find it hard?" Rae said as she sat down next to Lock. She put her arm over his shoulder and looked into his eyes.  
  
"I'm doing my best. I won't be able to keep this up long. Somehow I know it's gonna slip out and I'm not gonna be able to stop it. I mean, how am I supposed to help if when we're like this?"  
  
Rae patted Lock on the back and kissed him on the cheek. "I know, it's gonna be hard. You're not going to tell, you're not saying anything, and if we do that then we'll be fine I'm certain. So, you ready for the big match tomorrow? Thunder Crash and The Corrupt, clash of the titans huh?"  
  
Lock managed a slight smile. He couldn't seem to brighten up, not after what he and Rae had just talked about. "I'm going to bed" Lock said and walked towards his bedroom and shut the door.  
  
"Oh boy." Rae said quietly and sighed. She lay down on the couch and fell straight to sleep. 


	8. Clash of the Champions

Fight for Freedom  
  
(a/n) Thanks for reading and reviewing my story people. I would like to thank Lacrease, Miranon, Dynamis, Uninu and Cursor. I'd just like to make it clear that there is something between Lock and Rae, sorry if I didn't make it obvious at the start. But hey, this is my first fic after all; I might do another and bore you to death even more! Mwhahaha! Ahem.... I'm actually running out of chapter names at the moment (I don't think I'm a very creative person), so if anybody has any decent ones can they just give a few examples in a review please. Thank you! Nice to see most of you like it when Xan gets hurt. Read, enjoy, and review! :)  
  
Chapter 8: Clash of the Champions  
  
"Blue team scores!" the announcer boomed as Malcolm scored for his team. He had been waiting for this match a long time; he was out for most of the tournament anyway. Even when he was injured he tried to make it to as many matches as possible.  
  
He frequent visits and coaching helped Thunder Crash get to the top of the ladder in most things.  
  
The score was 3-2 to Xan's team. Xan's team scored the first points using a complete gung-ho attack and caught them off guard. It was a rare tactic, only used when every point counted. Malcolm didn't count on them doing it again, the same thing happened, and it was 2-0.  
  
Thunder Crash got one back when Riker fired a good shot with a Redeemer and cleared the path for Tamika to get back to base and score.  
  
Now it was Malcolm who had just got the point after a brutal one-on-one moment with Xan, Malcolm saw the double damage, got it, and pounded Xan it pieces of scrap. And now Malcolm had to do it again.  
  
"Incoming!" Aryss shouted over the radio before it fuzzed out with sounds of gunfire. Malcolm ran down to the parallel bridges. He passed a screen with the match being shown on Neurovision. 'CTF finals. CTF-Absolute Zero' it read at the top of the screen.  
  
Malcolm looked at the score and headed down to the two parallel bridges. He chose the path on the left hand side. Malcolm looked across to the bridge on the right and saw the entrance engulfed into explosion and what looked like Riker's body being thrown up and out of the door way.  
  
"Get in position and hold the base at all costs!" Malcolm shouted at his team. "Roger that" came the reply from all of them  
  
Malcolm figured he could sneak past and use the action as a diversion so he could at least make it to their flag. He saw more of Xan's team rush into the fray, many of them being gunned down as they entered. Malcolm sprinted into the red base.  
  
Xan was rushing into the fray with his minigun blazing. Tamika was on a birch above the entrance sniping everybody who came towards her.  
  
Xan opened up with his minigun and she was hammered back into the wall behind her, red smearing the walls around her. She keeled over and dropped off her perch; much to Xan's satisfaction.  
  
Riker was the next person to get past, and charged at him and hit him with his shoulder hard and smashed him back against the wall. Riker was quick to recover and came back with a hard blow with the butt of his link gun in Xan's stomach where most of the wires were.  
  
It didn't have much effect on Xan, but it was enough to get him angry. He clenched his fist and gave Riker a huge uppercut, a crunch sound was heard from Riker's jaw as he was thrown about 3 foot in the air and landed flat on his back clutching is jaw.  
  
Cathode came through and shot Riker on the ground Xan turned to looked at her.  
  
"Do you mind?! I was having fun for a moment!" he shouted at Cathode as she tried not to look at Xan fearing the worst. She quickly ran off in another direction and was instantly gunned down by Othello. Xan took quick care of him using his minigun and carried on towards the blue flag.  
  
"Red flag taken" the announcer said calmly. Malcolm's heart pounded in his chest. It had been a long and hard match, he was getting tired and it felt like his knees were going to give way any second. He took a few hits earlier in the match.  
  
Malcolm took a deep breath and ran out into the most likely place he could be picked off: the two bridges.  
  
His knees were still sore but he still kept on running. The bridges seemed longer coming back; they always did. Rockets flew in all around and Malcolm did his best to dodge most of them.  
  
Annika came up to Malcolm to support him, but she wasn't much good; she was blown away with one shot of a well placed sniper bullet.  
  
"Shit" Malcolm said as the body flopped in front of him and he nearly tripped over it. "Need backup!" he shouted down the radio. He couldn't afford another close one like that; at least he was inside his own base.  
  
"Blue flag taken". Malcolm didn't want to hear that. He ran up to the double damage that lay near the entrance and loaded it into his Flak cannon. He ran towards his flag.  
  
By the time he got there the double damage was all gone and he was left standing there like an idiot with nothing to do.  
  
"Get our flag back people! I'm stuck until here until you get it!"  
  
"Roger that! Shall I cover you sir?" Tamika shouted to be heard as sounds of gunfire and explosions muffled the radio.  
  
"No thanks! I can handle my self!" Malcolm shouted back.  
  
Tamika nodded and jumped down onto the bridge and went to look for the flag. Xan appeared in the opposite direction. He had a minigun and he opened up on her. Tamika took a shot in the chest and stumbled back.  
  
Xan was about to shoot again, suddenly, his gun shocked with electricity. Xan dropped the gun and lay on the floor; then melted away quickly after nobody picked it up.  
  
Xan pulled out another weapon; the same happened. Xan screamed in rage and grabbed for another weapon. Tamika looked on in amazement as Xan struggled to even shoot at her. Xan was still shouting and cursing angrily.  
  
"Well don't cry about it you baby, cry when you get back to all your pussy friends!"  
  
Tamika shot at Xan with her Shock rifle and it hit Xan in the side of the neck. He stumbled and nearly fell. Tamika fired a shock ball and then hit it with a normal shot. The large explosion tore Xan to shreds and what was left of his body gliding off the side of the bridge.  
  
Tamika smiled as he disappeared from view and went off the side. She was still trying to find the flag. Annika ran up next to Tamika, "Let's go" she said and they both ran into the red base.  
  
They covered each other, every time they turned a corner one would cover whilst the other went in, Tamika pointed her gun around the corner took a blow in the chest from a shock rifle.  
  
She stumbled back and blood seeped through her armour, she clutched the wound, another shot knocked off a piece of concrete and it hit Tamika square in the jaw.  
  
Blood escaped Tamika's mouth as she was knocked back onto her backside. Annika leapt round the corner into view and her eyes widened as she saw Cathode, Enigma and Virus standing with shock rifles and rocket launchers.  
  
Annika kept her finger on the trigger and managed to kill Virus with a blow to the head with her flak cannon. Enigma and Cathode both fired a three rocket spiral; Annika gasped and pulled her arms up to cover her head.  
  
It didn't do anything to stop the rockets, they tore through her flesh and took her arms clean off, and her body was blown to the back of the room with ease. Tamika saw the body hit the wall and collapse in a pool of blood. She let out a long breath as Enigma came around the corner and shot her on the floor.  
  
'Bang!' an explosion hit the wall behind Malcolm, he leapt forward and saw Axon with a rocket launcher, he was loading three rockets at once and was about to fire when Malcolm blew him away with his minigun.  
  
Divisor came into view from one of the ramps to the left of Malcolm, flak shells bounced around the room, deflecting off everything around him.  
  
Malcolm hit the deck and fired at Divisor with his minigun, he was inaccurate with one hand, but he pierced open her armour like a hot knife through butter. He was doing ok defending for himself. Malcolm wanted to get a shot at Phoenix after what had happened to him, he knew he cheated, no question, but he couldn't beat a cheater, even if he was a coward.  
  
Xan entered the room and fired with his shock rifle, it hit Malcolm in his left knee and he nearly fell to the floor. Malcolm's stumble made Xan miss the next shot he fired at him.  
  
Malcolm fired a burst from his minigun and half of the shots missed, one bullet hit Xan in his elbow joint and his left arm started twitching. Xan went to fire; his weapon clicked, and then disappeared from his hands.  
  
He whipped out his sniper rifle; he was saving it for long range combat. He shot and it hit Malcolm in the bare part of his forearm, it tore through the flesh and burst out the other side.  
  
"Aah!" Malcolm cried as the bullet left a hole in his arm.  
  
"Hadn't had enough?" Xan said and fired another shot. Malcolm rolled to the side and dodged it. He let rip with his minigun and it hit Xan in the chest several times. Xan still was a bit weakened, but it wasn't enough to really hurt him.  
  
Xan aimed a shot at Malcolm's head, he was cornered, and he couldn't move anywhere. The weapon disintegrated in Xan's hands.  
  
"Godammit!" Xan screamed and shouted up at the ceiling. "Why does this keep happening to me!?" he shouted some more. Malcolm seized his chance and swiped out Xan legs.  
  
He fell on his back with a sharp crunch and his large metal body made the light iron plated ground shake. Malcolm reacted quickly and was up on his feet, ignoring the pain in his arm and knee.  
  
Xan lurched forward off the ground towards Malcolm, he dodged it easily. They were both up on their feet, neither with a weapon. Xan had a distinct advantage, but Malcolm knew every weak spot on Xan's armour, he beat him in the 4th tournament finals, and he could do it again.  
  
Malcolm made the first move and went for a kick in Xan's lower abdomen. Electricity spurted out the side of his hips and he wobbled.  
  
Malcolm smiled slightly as he was satisfied with his strike. He unwedged his foot from Xan's side but he grabbed it and threw Malcolm by the leg across the room.  
  
Malcolm landed propped up against the wall. Xan lunged at him wall he rolled out the way and Xan's hand went straight into the wall. A large dent was left behind, Xan wasn't put off, and he carried throwing wild punches at Malcolm.  
  
Xan swung a left hook and Malcolm's face; he ducked and delivered another low blow in Xan's lower abdomen. Xan twitched some more and clutched his bruise and elbowed Malcolm in the face.  
  
He let out a cry and fell to the floor. His nose was bleeding badly, his bones crushed by the weight of the metal on Xan's elbow. Xan was about to deliver another blow to Malcolm, when Cathode appeared from the steps with a sniper rifle.  
  
She took a shot at Malcolm, a bad one, it hit the floor next to Malcolm and Xan turned to face her.  
  
"You mind?!" he bellowed at her. He grabbed her head in his large metallic hand, and literally crushed it. Oil and wires snapped and leaked out; Cathode's dropped lifelessly to the floor, dropping the sniper rifle.  
  
Malcolm looked at the sniper rifle and saw a ray of hope. He took out Xan's legs again by hitting him in the back of the knee, crippling him momentarily. He leap-frogged towards the sniper rifle.  
  
Xan saw what Malcolm was trying to do and charged towards him. Malcolm wheeled around and saw Xan just a few feet from him. 'Crack! Crack!' two loud shots rang in Malcolm's ears.  
  
Two gaping holes lay in Xan's chest and blood started leaking out. Xan staring eyes met Malcolm's, and then he hit the floor with the sound of metal crunching. "Blue flag returned!" the announcer said. "Oh yeah!" Riker taunted down the radio.  
  
Malcolm smiled and limped towards the flag clutching his arm. "Blue team is the winner!" Malcolm didn't want to go back to the arena injured. He raised the sniper rifle to his head and fired so he would get out healthily.  
  
The team respawned, the crowd was a mixture of cheering and utter confusion. All the people routing for The Corrupt were in anger and confusion. They were shouting for the chairman off the Liandri tournament to inspect the match.  
  
However, the Thunder Crash supporters didn't really care. They had now got to the top of the ladder after losing their vitally important team captain. The commentator's voice came on.  
  
"Well ladies and gentlemen! It looks like we have our new capture the flag tournament champions: Thunder Crash!" Half of the crowd went wild, the other half didn't. They were still cursing and shouting.  
  
Thunder Crash wanted to get out of the way before the judges brought up anything about a rematch. The team quickly disappeared from view down the lift.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Phoenix couldn't stop laughing. He had to sit down his stomach hurt so much. He loved this new system, he had just stopped Xan from getting a clean shot at him, and Xan had Malcolm in his way.  
  
He had tested what the computer could do on other matches. He could make things disappear into thin air, change the maps, kill people without reason, and most importantly, fix every match.  
  
Phoenix still had to get around the Liandri, if they really took notice to this then they would find the culprit. He had to keep Erik from talking, so he could do what he wanted, and keep Liandri off his back.  
  
He left the room quickly, still chuckling to himself; he went through the double doors and they swung gentle shut as soon as the Liandri guards came to check the computers. They found nothing; Phoenix left without a trace.  
  
(a/n) Well, there you go. Sorry if this chapter had nothing to do with John or anything. I was going to try and write an Onslaught match and try my hand at it, but I decided to just try and give a small impression of what Phoenix could do with the computer. So, the next chapter should be longer and better. Please review! I'm grateful you're reading this! :) 


	9. Rev up and ride

Fight for Freedom  
  
(a/n) Hello again, thanks for you helpful reviews about the chapter titles and things. Thanks for help Lacrease and all other. Sorry John didn't make an appearance, but I assure you it's not going to happen again unless I suffer from sudden memory loss. Anyway, the first Onslaught match is here, yay! I'm looking forward to writing this, especially with the vehicles as well, and thinking about it I'll be the first author to try a proper experience. :) Read, enjoy, and review!  
  
Chapter 9: Rev up and ride  
  
Amon burst into John's room looking very excited. John was still asleep.  
  
"John wake up. C'mon hurry!" she was almost jumping up and down on the spot with excitement. John slowly opened his eyes and groaned.  
  
"What? Why you bugging me it's only-"  
  
John looked at his wrist and then the other. They were both bare.  
  
"Where's my watch?" John said in a puzzled and tired tone.  
  
"You never had a watch." Amon said patronizingly.  
  
"Damn. Whatever, what is it?" he sat up and swung his legs off the side of the couch.  
  
"We've been picked to fight in the first ever Onslaught match! We're gonna be broadcast all over the world!" Amon always loved attention; she couldn't get enough of it.  
  
"Oh goody." John said sarcastically.  
  
"Well aren't you excited? This means we'll be at the top of the ladder instantly if we win this match. We'll be champions for once!" Amon was still ecstatic about it. She couldn't wait.  
  
"When's the match then?"  
  
"First thing, Lock told me to wake you up so you could get ready."  
  
"Ok, ok I'll be ready in a sec."  
  
"My god you sound like my teenage daughter." Amon giggled slightly.  
  
"You have a daughter? What are you doing here for?" John's tone of voice lightened up and he was curious as ever.  
  
"Well, she was the reason I'm here. I wasn't told to come here; I went on my own accord. My daughter was killed on some field trip with the school. They were on a tour where the first ever space craft was invented, man that was a long time ago. There.....there was a riot in the Liandri building opposite, it broke out and my daughter was...killed." Amon swallowed.  
  
"Oh my god" John said as he stood up and put his hand on her shoulder. Amon continued.  
  
"I questioned the school all about it; they said it wasn't their responsibility because nobody filled in a letter or document about it. They told me to talk to Liandri, they said the situation was out of their hands and it couldn't have been prevented. Assholes, ever time I went I was turned down. Two guards had to drag me out one time" She chuckled. "So that's why I came here, to join the tournament and get my revenge on Liandri, I bet a lot of people would tell you that they wanted revenge too." She sighed and tried to look on the bright side.  
  
"I really came here for revenge" she said. "But then I grew to like it, I thought it was fun and I loved the attention, so I stayed."  
  
"Whoa, at least you have an honest story." John said.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
John was about to answer when Lock came into John's cell as well.  
  
"You ready? We gotta go in five minutes; I'll meet you at the lift." He left. Amon looked at John.  
  
"Tell me later" she said and walked out. John looked up at the ceiling and let out a long, deep breath. He went to get his armour on.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
The team Kill Switch was against was the Hellions. The group of rough outlaws who had been caught in their pirate days and then sent into the tournament as a punishment. It certainly cut down the number of gang and pirate reports throughout the whole city.  
  
Baird came out of the bathroom, he had his armour ready with the chip inserted making it go red.  
  
Garrett was in the same room waiting for him to come out. He sat up from the couch when he saw Baird. They nodded at each other and headed out of the cell.  
  
They walked past their team mates doors and banged on them repeatedly until the got a response or an acknowledgment.  
  
The walked up to the lift and rode it up together, neither of them said anything, they were concentrating on the battle. They got to the top and saw the whole place was packed already, nobody could see them yet as they kept back in the elevator exit area.  
  
Garrett thought back to his pirate days, the way he had been cruelly beaten and put in here; at least he thought it was brutal and cruel for him.  
  
Garrett had the biggest record for drug dealing and general piracy. 45 people had been killed by his hand in one week. He had been put in hospital numerous times because of injuries from fights and gunshot wounds.  
  
He looked at Baird, who wasn't looking at him. His eyes then trailed off towards the floor, then to the crowds outside. Banners and small flags were flying all around.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
John was the last person to join his team up at the elevator. As soon as Lock saw John he called the team in closer and started a battle plan.  
  
"The map we guys are playing in today is called 'Torlan'. I was looking at layouts and drawing of the map most of the night and I've got a pretty good battle plan."  
  
Lock pulled out a map from his right boot and spread it out on the floor. "We start here." Lock poked the picture of a blue power core on the map. "First, we need to set up a stable foundation for when we attack, if we have no foundation, we get knocked back, we're finished. The two power nodes closest to us are here and here." He poked some more parts of the map. "I want everybody to focus on these at the start, and then we can get our attacking done. If we get these parts before they get theirs, we have an instant head start, we can attack first."  
  
He paused for a second and looked at the team to make sure they were paying attention, as he looked at each of them; they nodded to say that they understood. Lock continued.  
  
"Next, if we can get straight down the middle, hopefully a Redeemer on top of this tall structure in the middle should help us disable some more power nodes. These guys aren't going to drop their last power nodes without a fight, so we need some people to be constantly attacking that power node for a distraction while the rest go for the power core. Gunther, I want you and John to do that, keep suppressing and don't let up until you're dead. Got it?" He looked at Gunther and John, and then John looked at Gunther and nodded.  
  
John didn't think he would need to listen to the rest, he'd got his orders and he knew the team was able to pull off any tactics they wanted if they tried. For once he was confident going into this match, he had a feeling he could do it.  
  
He looked out into the stadium area and saw the increasingly large crowd out there. They weren't cheering yet. John had never seen a crowd so big, maybe they were waiting for another match to come on after theirs.  
  
Lock's voice was just a blur in John's mind he wasn't listening anymore. The team seemed to say some sort of motto. John didn't hear it. Gunther patted him on the shoulder and he spun around to look and Lock.  
  
"Well?" Lock asked  
  
"Er...yeah sure let's do this." John said uncertainly.  
  
"Good to hear it!" Lock said and he rolled up the map and put it in his boot again.  
  
The announcer's voice came on and the large speakers boomed with his heavy voice. "Well ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another day of fantastic action in the tournament on Neurovision. Today we have a special match and hopefully the beginning of a whole new era! The first ever Onslaught match will be played today by Kill Switch and the Hellions!"  
  
The crowd went crazy. Amon giggled, she couldn't help it. 'Maybe they are here for our match' John thought as he saw banners and flags go up everywhere. John couldn't help but smile, it gave him a big confidence booster.  
  
"So let's welcome to two teams playing today!" the announcer said. The crowd got louder. Lock nodded as usual and they all walked out together, the Hellions did the same and John looked at them.  
  
He saw the team leader. Garrett, John cringed as he saw him. 'Dammit he's ugly!' John thought. He tried to look at the other team but he couldn't bring his eyes away from Garrett.  
  
Before he knew it they were on the platform and were about to be put in the match. John managed to pull his eyes away from Garrett and focused on the match. He remembered Lock's orders.  
  
"5...4...3...2...1...Begin" John spawned next to weapons locker. Large rectangles and squares flew around and vehicles thumped down on the map with a light 'thud'. John grabbed the weapons on the locker and ran up a small ramp and got in a Raptor.  
  
"How the hell do I fly this thing?" John said under his breath. He pressed a button on the joystick in front of him. The vehicles rose up about 20 feet in the air, and then it started to fall back down again.  
  
John hit the button again and held it until he was at a good height. He pushed the stick forwards and the Raptor dipped its nose and glided silently through the air. He looked down and saw the first power nodes.  
  
Rae jumped out of a vehicle and walked over a small platform. It flashed blue, and she started shooting at it with a link gun. The beam turned blue and the node reached full health.  
  
John scanned for the other node he had to get. He spotted it in the distance. He let go of the button and started descending towards it. Gunther pulled up in a Hellbender and took the node.  
  
"Ok! We've got our foundation! Now let's attack!" Lock shouted over the radio. 'Missile Lock-On!' flashed up of the small screen in front of him. "Shit" John said as he saw a rocket hurtling towards him.  
  
John didn't know what to do; he had seconds before he was smashed to pieces. He stamped with his left foot on a pedal; the craft veered to the left and dodged the missile. John looked at his foot and saw the pedal; there was another on his right.  
  
'Missile Lock-On!' the warning flashed up again. John swore again and spotted the other Raptor firing at him, but he couldn't see the rocket. 'Bang!'  
  
John found it, in his right engine of the Raptor. Smoke bellowed out from the side and John needed to move as it wouldn't be long before he was killed.  
  
"Stay alive John! We need some air support if we wanna win this!" Lock shouted over the radio. John gritted his teeth and hit the left pedal again, he dodged another rocket. He looked at the joystick and hit the button opposite the 'ascend and descend' button.  
  
A rocket flew out from underneath the Raptor. It automatically homed in on the other Raptor. John steered to the side and fired again. Smoke was coming out of the other vehicle and the second missile hit with ease, blowing it to pieces.  
  
"Top Gun!" the announcer boomed. John smiled and flew down to the center building. A lot of fighting was going on down there. John couldn't make out what was going on down there; it was full of explosions and smoke from the other damaged vehicles.  
  
John saw Lock in a Manta charge into the fray with all guns blazing. A large explosion sent a huge clump of earth sky high right behind him. Another one came in and it was a direct hit.  
  
It sent the small vehicle about 20 feet into the air and it landed with a crunching metal sound. John's eyes widened as he saw it happen.  
  
He lowered the craft and hit the third button on the joystick. Lasers burst out of the turrets on the front at an alarming rate and cut several people to shreds. A shell missed John by an inch and it made it shake vigorously.  
  
There was still a lot of smoke coming from the central power nodes that everybody was trying to get. Nobody could get around to constructing it because it was destroyed as soon as they activated it.  
  
John fired a rocket into the smoke, the shape of a tank rumbled forward. It aimed it's turret up and John opened his mouth and he saw the flash of the turret and it was too late.  
  
The explosion in the craft echoed through John's ears. He couldn't see through the thick black smoke coming out of the engines. The joystick had snapped and the foot pedals were twisted and doused in oil.  
  
Lock saw John spinning out of control. "Stay with it John" he said quietly to himself. The Raptor starting spinning in the air, it was heading towards the tall building in the middle. "Oh crap" Lock said.  
  
Lock got his head down and took the central node. 'Bang!' Lock looked up again and bits of twisted metal started raining down on him. He hit the deck as the main chassis of the vehicles smashed into the ground next to him.  
  
John respawned back near his power core and didn't find a vehicle nearby; he loaded up at a weapons locker and headed out. He looked for a vehicle but didn't see anything. He went off on foot.  
  
John stopped to look at his wrist pad and saw the layout of the map. The central node had been taken, but was under attack, he might as well help it out. He ran as fast as he could to the power node.  
  
Amon jumped into the Goliath. "Oh yeah" she said as Rae climbed in and took the dual machine guns on the top. Amon slammed the handle down and the huge tank grumbled forwards.  
  
Amon peered out of the narrow slot at the front of the tank and could see the central node. It was under red control; Amon fired and hit the node. It was destroyed with ease, and Garrett was killed with it.  
  
The tank rolled forwards towards the power node and Rae got out and ran to seize it. Amon saw a Scorpion race into view, the fired with the turret and scored another direct hit. It flew into the air and its wheels rolled in separate directions, one nearly hitting Lock.  
  
"Blue power node under construction" the announcer said as John ran up behind the tank and clambered up onto the machine guns. "Let's go!" he said to Amon, she put the tank at full speed and it wasn't long before John could see the red base.  
  
"Straight ahead John, look lively!" Amon shouted up at John. He didn't need to be told twice. John pressed with both thumbs on the plate trigger and bullets tore three people to pieces. "Multi-kill!" the announcer said.  
  
Suddenly, a red Goliath slowly rumbled up and stopped ahead and to the left of Amon and John's tank.  
  
"Amon watch it! Over there!" John shouted whilst pointing manically at the tank.  
  
"Yeah, yeah I see it!" Amon replied calmly. John was amazed by how calm she sounded. The turret twisted slowly to point at the other tank, the other did the same. John ducked down behind the machine guns.  
  
Both tanks fired at the same time. Amon hit and the other tank missed John by a few feet. Amon fired again, but missed. This time, the other tank hit.  
  
The whole thing shook like crazy. John and Amon were thrashed around the tank whacking their heads on the sides of the interior. John got the courage to pop his head out again.  
  
A Manta glided past the tank and started blasting away with its lasers. It looked like Vick was in it. He raced straight towards a few people. The vehicles dipped down and the fans at the bottom made mince meat out of them.  
  
Vick strafed again and started shooting at the red power node. Amon recovered her senses and finished off the enemy tank. She fired again at the power node and it was nearly down.  
  
John fired on the node with his machine guns, it was destroyed and Amon was ready to move on. "John get the hell out of the tank! Go go go!" Amon screamed at him.  
  
"What? Why!?" John shouted back. Amon didn't answer; she just ran up from underneath John and shoved him out. John toppled out of the tank and flopped off the side.  
  
Amon leaped out of the small hole and hit the deck. Rockets came out of nowhere and annihilated that tank. John covered his face with his arms as metal flew everywhere. Amon got up and helped John up.  
  
"When I say get out, you get out, ok?" she asked firmly.  
  
"Yeah, sorry about that" John said quietly. They both headed off again to destroy the power node.  
  
"Blue power node destroyed" the announcer said seconds after Amon and John had just started shooting at the red one. The force field came up around the node and neither of them could damage it.  
  
Amon checked her wrist pad and swore. "We've lost one of our main power nodes, we haven't got a foundation anymore" she said quickly and ran towards a damaged Scorpion. "Get in!" she shouted.  
  
"Where? There isn't any room." John answered back.  
  
"Hang off the side or something just hang on!" Amon revved up the engine. John clambered on to the side of the vehicle and wedged his foot in between a bar and the engine and told Amon to step on it.  
  
The scorpion took off with amazing speed. John felt the g-forces press against his stomach as they tore up the ground. "Watch out!" Amon shouted. John didn't see what there was to worry about.  
  
Suddenly, two huge blades unfolded from each side of the buggy. John jumped when he saw them and nearly fell off the side. Kaela was running towards the action and the blades were coming towards her.  
  
Blood splattered on the blades, turning the steel silver into total red. Both parts of the corpse fell to the ground and blood leaked everywhere.  
  
Amon ran over another two people: Baird and Outlaw. She had a disturbing grin on her face. "I find it hard to believe you're in here because of your daughter!" John shouted over the noise of the engine. Amon looked at him and laughed.  
  
They both pulled up at the node Amon stopped the engine and clambered out with John close behind. Garrett was guarding the node and shooting it with his link gun. John took quick care of him with his minigun.  
  
The node was barely constructed anyway. Amon and John shot it and it blew up. Then John created a new one. He was half way through when a shock rifle burst hit him right in the back.  
  
He let out a cry of pain and fell on all fours. Amon started shooting at where the shot came from. A Hellbender came into view and started firing shock balls in their general direction.  
  
Amon ignored them and carried on shooting at the vehicle. A long chain of balls kept coming towards them, and then a shock beam set off the chain reaction. Amon gasped as the shock combos teared down the line, killing both Amon and John.  
  
Lock, Gunther and Vick saw it all. They had moved around in a group using a Hellbender to get around. Vick charged up the cannon on the back of the vehicle, and fired. He smashed in the front end of the other Hellbender with one fully charged hit and permanently crippled it.  
  
Lock stood on the accelerator and charged straight towards the enemies without a vehicle. He ran Baird over. "Vehicular Manslaughter!" Lock chuckled to himself and spun back around for another run.  
  
This time he got Kaela and Outlaw. The other Hellbender couldn't go anywhere, so Vick and Gunther shot it with their weapons. Vick scanned the area. "Area secure" he said to Lock.  
  
He spoke too soon, Garrett fired at them with an Avril and it struck the front end of the Hellbender. The windscreen smashed and glass hurtled through the car, hitting Lock in the face several times.  
  
Glass embedded itself in Lock arms and face, basically blinding him. He cried out and clutched his face with his hands and tried to pick out the rest of the glass. Vick spotted Garrett and killed him before he could fire again. He watched his body slide quickly to the bottom of the steep mound.  
  
Gunther climbed through to see if Lock was alright. He helped with picking out the glass, but some was too hard to get out. Lock could see out of his right eye, but not the other and he insisted that they carried on.  
  
The three of them took back the power node. Gunther decided to drive this time; they headed towards the central power node and spotted Rae and Amon repairing it.  
  
They drove past quickly and found John moving quietly towards the last node they needed to have access to the other team's power core. The large Hellbender roared by, completely blowing John's cover.  
  
John saw it and dropped his arms by his sides and abandoned his approach and ran after the Hellbender, and starting taking a lot of fire. Bullets hissed and snapped around John's body.  
  
John just kept running at full speed after the Hellbender; and somehow, made it without a scratch. He then used the Hellbender as cover. Lock and Gunther got out, with Vick still firing in the vehicle.  
  
"Thanks for blowing my cover!" John shouted over the noise.  
  
"Hey it's our pleasure!" Gunther replied and laughed.  
  
"Stealth won't get you anywhere kid!" Lock said and started shooting the power node. Gunther and John joined in. Rae and Amon made a run for their position but Rae was cut down by a manned laser turret.  
  
The power node was destroyed along with the Hellbender they were standing next to. The explosion killed Vick in the actual vehicle, Lock, Gunther and Rae. John was the only one to survive the explosion, but he was hurt badly.  
  
He wasn't able to make a new power node without being killed, but he tried, to no avail and was killed with a single bullet from a minigun.  
  
John respawned and saw the rest of the team heading off towards the power node. John got in another Raptor. "Better luck this time" he said and flew off towards the action. Ground fire was the worst problem in a Raptor, small shots, and lots of them are hard to fight against.  
  
'Missile Lock-On!' "Oh come on!" John shouted at the ground in disbelief. John managed to dodge the first shot but the second followed quickly afterwards. He was hit in the undercarriage, probably the place where the most armour was.  
  
John felt the dent in the bottom through his seat. He fired with his lasers and the ground was covered in kicked up dust.  
  
Amon had taken another tank and was blasting away at the base entrance allowing nothing to get out alive. A Manta was blown over one of the walls and left as a pile of scrap.  
  
Gunther was also in the tank and was on the machine guns killing any lucky survivors. "Red Power Core is vulnerable" the announcer boomed. "Ok let's go!" Lock shouted excitedly.  
  
Gunther told John to remember their orders and keep suppressing the node until the core is destroyed. John felt disappointed in having to hang back. He thought this match was going well, he was actually having fun in the tournament, and this could be a new start for his life.  
  
Outlaw and Baird were making a run for the power node and John watched as they over powered Gunther. John fired a rocket and it landed just in front of both of them, knocking them over.  
  
Then he let rip with his lasers and cut them both to shreds. "Double-Kill!" The red power core started taking a lot of damage. It was down to 70% already.  
  
'Missile Lock-On!' John didn't want to see that. He stood on the right pedal and felt his stomach get pressed down to his feet with the g-force. It didn't dodge the rocket either. More smoke came out of the side of the Raptor.  
  
"I'm getting tired of this!" John said as he flew the vehicle closer to the ground so he could bail out. John jumped out when he was about 10 feet above the ground, and as he did, another rocket flew in and destroyed the Raptor.  
  
The red power core had really taken some considerable damage. John and Gunther didn't have much to do guarding the node. They just watched the action in the red base from where they were.  
  
"You like this match?" Gunther asked sarcastically after a Manta exploded near them.  
  
"Yeah, for once I'm actually enjoying it" John answered.  
  
"For once? Shit I couldn't li-"  
  
"Watch out!" John shouted and pushed Gunther on the floor and the leapt to his left. A Scorpion was sprinting towards them with its blades open about to slice them in half.  
  
The blades went over both their heads by inches, and then came back round for another run. "Watch this!" Gunther shouted with a smile on his face.  
  
Gunther got back onto his feet and then went on one knee. He had a lightening gun with him and he aimed down the sight. The vehicle was dangerously close. John was getting nervous about Gunther's safety.  
  
Gunther waited some more, then fired a well placed shot at the engine of the Scorpion. The engine cut out instantly, skidded sideways and rolled over with great speed. When the vehicle lost momentum and stopped, Kaela the driver, was dead.  
  
John was about to congratulate Gunther on his good shooting when Lock came on the radio panicking and sounding injured. "We need backup!" he shouted and then the radio fizzed out with the sound of gunfire.  
  
John looked at Gunther. "I got it!" Gunther said and pointed at the tall building in the middle of the map. "On top of there, there is a Redeemer, get and finish of the base!"  
  
John looked at him and nodded uncertainly. Gunther sprinted off for the base and John headed for the Redeemer.  
  
Gunther charged in with his minigun and mowed down Outlaw with a few shots to head. Amon was fired rampantly with her flak cannon at the core, damaging it badly. Gunther ran up next to Amon and started shooting with her.  
  
They were both blown away instantly with a blow from a Goliath, their body parts scattering the area. Lock and Rae followed suit.  
  
John grabbed the Redeemer. It was heavy, a lot heavier than all the other weapons. He cradled it in his arms and got back in his Raptor. He flew straight in with the Raptor and ignored all the ground fire he was getting.  
  
He landed it badly and crushed the bottom of the vehicle. John leapt out and looked over the power core. He pointed the Redeemer at it and fired, at the same instant, he was killed by Garrett with a minigun.  
  
Rae felt the explosion ripple through the map. "Blue team is the winner! You have won the match!"  
  
"Wooo! Yeah!" Amon shouted and jumped up into the air. John respawned and realized what had happened. They all spawned back into the stadium.  
  
"What a match that was ladies and gentlemen! Our first ever Onslaught match and what an action packed fight it was. But most of the credit must go to Kill Switch's newest team member: Viper!"  
  
John was embarrassed and looked at the floor as the whole crowd went wild. It was so loud it made John's ears hurt. Lock came over and patted John on the back and couldn't stop laughing.  
  
As usual Amon was I her own world blowing kisses and waving. Even Vick was looking happy as the crowd kept on cheering. The team headed back towards the lift and went down back to their cells.  
  
John caught a glimpse of the Hellions, they didn't make a sound.  
  
(A/n) Phew! Sorry for a painstakingly long chapter there. I wanted to make it shorter but I just had to write everything that came into my head. I did think the action was really flowing in this, but I did think it started to droop towards the end. Oh well, hope you liked it! Please review! :) 


	10. Another step up

Fight for Freedom  
  
(a/n) Hello again, sorry I haven't updated for a few weeks, just been doing other things. I'd like to thank Dynamis, Cursor, Baronic, Miranon and Vaporium Iridum for their reviews. I'm really glad to see you liked my attempt at the Onslaught match, I felt pleased with it too. So this match should fulfill the request for a match in Dm-Rankin. Read, Review and Enjoy! :)  
  
I would like to dedicate this chapter on the 6th of June to those who fought and died on D-Day for the liberation of France, and most importantly, the end of the second world war. We will remember you.  
  
Chapter 10: Another step up  
  
Sweat poured down John's forehead as he sat up from the couch; his eyes wide open. He wiped his brow with the back of his hand. John looked at his right leg. The scar and the wounds were still there.  
  
"Oh god." John said to himself and lay back down on the couch. He thought this dream wasn't bothering him anymore. There was still a voice murmuring inside his head. John couldn't figure out what it was saying, a female voice, saying the same thing over and over again.  
  
The three gunshots rang out in John's head, making him jump back up to a sitting position. More sweat came down John's forehead, he wiped it away again. Light was just seeping into the room, the thin yellow rays crossing the room and getting John in the corner of the eye.  
  
John tried to get back to sleep; he couldn't, it was the dream that haunted him, and it wouldn't stop until he found it out. It was a splinter in his brain, desperate to be picked out and thrown away for good.  
  
The light rays shone even bright through the small window, illuminating the walls slightly. John switched on the TV, it was early morning, and they were showing re-runs of the greatest matches of all time.  
  
It was Malcolm versus Xan Kriegor in what was easily claimed as the Tournament's best ever match. Liandri made millions from viewers alone; people queued outside for days just to get in have a front row seat in the action.  
  
Xan was blown into flaming pieces as Malcolm dashed across the camera screen in a flash. Both of them had super quick reflexes, anything that came near them they could sense what they were going to do next, even if it wasn't mildly threatening.  
  
Malcolm ducked behind a crate as Xan ran straight past him. Malcolm shot Xan in the back he stumbled; Xan wheeled around gave Malcolm a few link shots in the face, sending him flat on his back next to the boxes.  
  
Xan aimed his link gun and Malcolm's wounded body, he fired, Malcolm rolled to the left and dodged the shots. Xan kept firing at Malcolm who was still rolling; soon Malcolm would run out of room to go.  
  
A wall was inches away from Malcolm when Xan ran out of ammo, Malcolm flicked him self up onto his feet and made a dash for the flak cannon on the other side of the room. Xan was one step ahead and fired right where the flak cannon was, causing Malcolm to slow down.  
  
Xan then whipped out his Shock rifle and blasted Malcolm in the back repeatedly until he stopped moving. Malcolm respawned nearby, he blasted away with the now un-serviced Enforcers, one hit Xan in the side of the head.  
  
Malcolm was much more agile with a light gun; he dodged Xan's shots and scored another blow to the head, knocking Xan down, dead. Malcolm only needed one more kill to win and become the new Unreal Champion.  
  
Xan grabbed a rocket launcher and ran off to find Malcolm, he couldn't let Malcolm win and claim his cup. HIS cup was at stake! He couldn't lose it. Not to who he regarded as just a kid who could shoot a gun in the right direction.  
  
Xan spotted Malcolm running around a corner, he fired instantly and hit the metal door frame, knocking Malcolm flat on his face, it had been mere seconds and Xan had killed Malcolm; blown him to bits on the floor; a somewhat petty death, but it counted.  
  
John was actually enjoying this match, something he had failed to do numerous times whilst watching. Xan and Malcolm confronted each other again, Malcolm was ducking, side stepping and jumping around to confuse Xan, as far as John could tell, it was working to great effect.  
  
Suddenly, the TV cut out into just fuzz, then to a 'Special Liandri Announcement'. John raised an eyebrow as he watched the TV carefully. "Would all professional tournament fighters please listen carefully to this announcement."  
  
John scoffed at the word 'professional'. "Pfft. Professional my ass." He carried on watching eagerly. "As most of you know, the monthly random picked Deathmatch fight is today, and we will be picking the contenders in a few short moments."  
  
It was the usual commentator's voice. He sounded unrecognizable when he was speaking in a normal, more humane voice. The screen went black, and then flashed up with a list of names suddenly. John feared his name being on the list, he reluctantly searched for it, his eyes glancing at all the names, his uncontrollably nervous eyes twitching at every name he looked at.  
  
He froze. His eyes made contact with his name. John squeezed his eyes tight shut. It can't have been right, he thought only the best tournament fighters went into this fight, but then again, it was randomly picked.  
  
John opened his eyes again and it was true, there was his name, in black and white. He looked along the other list of names. His heart sank, he abandoned all chances of getting anywhere (not that he had much anyway). Malcolm, Lauren, Skakruk. "Oh my god" John said breathlessly.  
  
He didn't want to look at the other names, he didn't want to make it any worse, there was no way he could even come second from last, not with a crowd like this against him. "Would all fighters that have been picked, report to their nearest lift to the stadium immediately. The map that has been picked to fight in is..........DM-Rankin."  
  
The TV cut back to the fight between Malcolm and Xan, most of the action had been missed, Malcolm was collecting his trophy for the championship and Xan was taken back to the Liandri research lab for extensive repairs and upgrading.  
  
John ran his fingers through his hair and let out a long breath. He was going to get slaughtered in there. With Malcolm, Lauren and Skakruk in the fight, it was obvious who the fight between the top three places would be for.  
  
But now all that's changed, Malcolm in first, John close behind in second and Skakruk in third. All the images John had of being slaughtered in the match were gone, as was the head of another victim.  
  
It was a big match, first to 100 kills won, the match started 5 minutes ago, and 16 fighters were in the match overall, including John. Malcolm was winning with 38, and John was a second with 35, and Skakruk almost out of the picture with 27 in third.  
  
John had only confronted Malcolm once, and short, violent and nasty was the only way to describe the fight. Malcolm's flak bounced off the wall behind John and it connected with his back and he was down for the count.  
  
Lauren had been hurt rather permanently when she was ganged up on by three people with miniguns and she suffered a lot of blood loss, and she had a limp in her step. This slowed her down greatly and she was second from last. Not good for her team's reputation.  
  
John loaded another shell into his flak cannon, pointed his gun around the corner with caution, the action had died down momentarily, tension drifted about the arena, as it did with the spectators of the match.  
  
A badly placed rocket flew past John's leg; he turned to find Frostbite loading up his rocket launcher with three rockets. John didn't give him the chance to even shoot at him again.  
  
John leapt forward and fired with his flak cannon hitting Frostbite all over and making him fumble with his weapon. He fired again and pierced the armour around Frostbite's neck and head, and then another shot took him out for good, with his face barely left intact and covered with blood and scalding hot metal shards.  
  
The action quickly started again, the tense moment was gone and the arena was hell again. 'Malcolm is on a killing spree' flashed on John's wrist pad. "Dammit" John said under his breath.  
  
And it was obvious why. Malcolm had taken the double damage power up and was dishing out some serious punishment. Enigma, Lauren, and Baird lay dead around Malcolm as slowly more and more people started surrounding him and attacking him.  
  
John jumped in on the action. Bodies and limbs flew around the area with Malcolm dodging and jumped around the room. He had his back to John, he took his chance. John dropped down and was about to fire when Malcolm jumped and ran down the left corridor of the main cross roads in the center of the map.  
  
Some others followed him, firing frantically; then one was blown backwards by a rocket. John took his chance to get another kill by shooting Jakob in the back whilst he was chasing Malcolm.  
  
It rather surprised John to find a Thunder Crash team member hunting another Thunder Crash team member. At the start of the match, the fighters were bias towards their own team, like not killing them and working together and then running off to avoid being caught being co-operative, after all, it was a death match.  
  
John was the only one from Kill Switch in the fight, so he couldn't team up with or fight along side anybody, and now he realized he would have to face Malcolm alone if he caught up with him.  
  
He spotted him, he jumped and then wall dodged up onto a level higher up. John hadn't tried that before, but he made an attempt. He jumped and then stuck one leg out, put it up against the wall and then pushed out.  
  
His foot slipped when he pushed off, throwing him off balance and leaving him hanging off the side of the upper level. John just managed to heave himself over. He rolled onto his back and left the arm with his flak cannon swinging over the edge.  
  
Malcolm was there to greet him. He had a lightening gun ready that he had obviously picked up earlier. John eyes widened and his spirit sank, he knew he was finished. But, there was one hope.  
  
Malcolm hadn't spotted the weapon in John's hand as it was still over the edge. Malcolm slowly walked up to John on the floor. He was amazingly cool under pressure, and he looked it at the same time.  
  
John waited until he was just close enough; he swung up his weapon from over the edge and bore a large flock of red hot metal into Malcolm's torso. Blood burst out from under the armour and John fired again.  
  
Malcolm was knocked back by the second shot, and then fell, with blood dripping from the wound in his stomach. John smiled and got back on his feet. Satisfied.  
  
"Yeah! You show him John!" Amon shouted eccentrically at the TV as she jumped up from the couch. The whole team was in Amon's room, watching Neurovision and cheering on John. The camera mainly stayed with Malcolm, seeing as he was obviously the favourite to win the match.  
  
Lock smiled and looked proud. John had come a long way since he first came in. When John won his first match he was trembling when he came out after the fight, but Lock's main worry was John getting too arrogant or obnoxious.  
  
He was doing well; he'd give him that, especially just after killing the person who was considered the deadliest fighter in the tournament. Bragging was the only thing that made Lock truly angry, people who have their head so far up their ass it's amazing that they can actually breathe.  
  
But that wasn't important right now, if John did start to get too cocky then Lock knew when to step in and mention it. It's happened before when Lock's newest member back in the days when Kill Switch had just started out caught the arrogance virus.  
  
The kid was so full of himself he couldn't even fight straight in the arena, even when he came last it was a triumph for him. Until one day, he got fed up of the rest of the team's attitude towards him.  
  
He left to find another team. Instantly, he was in a fight with somebody and was taken away by Liandri guards and was never seen again.  
  
Lock snapped was snapped away from his thoughts when a large cheer came from Amon and Gunther. Rae was laughing and clapping as well. However, Vick was nowhere to be seen.  
  
Apparently the cheering had been because John had just killed Malcolm again, and then Skakruk straight afterwards, two very feared warriors taken by the little man who looked quite frankly scared shitless.  
  
It was true, John was scared shitless. But no bravery, craving or emotion made John do what he was doing. Only when he stopped for a few moments to take a breather, did John truly realize how scared he was, sweat dampened his face, and he was constantly wiping his forehead.  
  
He set out again; he knew that Malcolm and Skakruk would be very angry with him. This obviously made him feel more uncomfortable with his current situation. Suddenly, a bone bending explosion came from down on the crossroads below him.  
  
He struggled for balance and nearly fell over. "What the hell was that?!" John said to himself. He skidded down the angled planks and ran into the center of the crossroads. Bodies and limbs lay everywhere.  
  
"What the fu-" Another explosion with exactly the same force burst out of nowhere. John was completely pulverized. The entire group of fighters respawned in exactly the same area. None of them even had a Shield gun or Assault rifle.  
  
Nobody knew what to do. They all looked at one another, no one said anything. Even Malcolm looked a little nervous. Something had to give way; a Skaarj couldn't stand within a few feet of somebody for a minute and not have the urge to impale them with their razor sharp spikes on the ends of their fists.  
  
Malcolm started to open his mouth, but John butted in:  
  
"What the hells goin' on?!" John said loudly and looked at all the others standing near where the flak cannon usually spawned, it wasn't there though. Sweat dripped off the end of John's nose, he bit his bottom lip and knew something was going to happen.  
  
Malcolm sensed it too, he moved his feet and leant slightly forward as if he was just about to get hit by something moving quickly straight at him. A flash of lightening from outside set it off.  
  
The rumble of thunder came coincidentally in time with serrated edged blades bursting through Hyena's chest. It had to be the Skaarj who started it all. Hyena coughed blood and spluttered before Skakruk's fist was violently ripped out from the gaping hole in Hyena's chest.  
  
The chain reaction had started. Malcolm's early act of bracing himself paid off. Frostbite saw the chance to swipe at him with his left fist. Malcolm took the blow in his right arm and stumbled slightly.  
  
Juggernauts were meant to be stronger than normal human beings; it was no surprise that Malcolm's arm nearly broke. Malcolm grabbed hold of Frostbite's arm and tore away some of the loose wires coming from Frostbite's arm.  
  
All hell broke loose, it was brutal. Enigma was being torn apart by Skakruk, sparks flying in all directions. Divisor took the chance and took out Skakruk's legs. He crashed to the floor, Enigma still twitching on the end of his claws.  
  
Divisor stepped down hard on his neck, crushing it. Skakruk grabbed her leg and swung her away with ease. She went crashing into the wall behind them. Enigma was dead by now.  
  
With Divisor up against the wall, Outlaw used his elbow to smash in the face of Divisor as if it was just a pillow. The body twitched and collapsed to the floor. Outlaw turned his head and received a smack in the jaw from Jakob.  
  
Outlaw gave him a sharp uppercut in the chin and knocked out a tooth. Jakob retaliated fiercely. He grabbed hold of Outlaw's throat and began shaking and choking him. He released one hand from Outlaw's throat and hit him several times around the side of the head, and then once in the temple.  
  
Jakob pulled back for one final punch, someone grabbed a hold of his arm just before he was about to deliver the knock out blow. Succubus grabbed hold of the arm and twisted it in a very unnatural position.  
  
'Crack' Jakob screamed in agony as his arm had been wrenched out of its socket and then snapped in half. Jakob fell flat on his back, clutching his arm and screaming in agony.  
  
Nobody had started attacking John, and he was grateful nobody had as well. Malcolm was getting pounded by Frostbite but he was barely withstanding it. Something told John he should help Malcolm, but then he thought of what might happen afterwards.  
  
This was every man for himself, if John helped Malcolm out of trouble, Malcolm would start on John. It was risky; John took the chance, hoping and praying that Malcolm would appreciate his help and not hurt him.  
  
Malcolm glanced over at John, John looked back at him. He could easily see in Malcolm's eyes that he needed help. Even through his tinted sunglasses that hid his emotions from all living beings. The eyes are the only opening to the soul.  
  
Frostbite's back was his weak point; John struck with a firm kick to the back. Frostbite yelled out, Malcolm saw the small interval he had to hit him and took it.  
  
He tackled him to the ground, and then pummeled him in the face until he stopped moving. The main body of the fighting had slowly moved away from Malcolm and John. Virus had backed around the corner and the rest followed.  
  
Malcolm stood up and looked at John. Fear filled John's mind and his heart started beating rapidly. Malcolm started walking towards him. 'Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit' was the only thing in John's mind as Malcolm took another step closer.  
  
John braced himself; he drew his fists up slightly and waited nervously. Malcolm was about 2 steps away from John. He reached his hand out and patted John on the shoulder. He smiled. John was so relieved; he hadn't been killed or hurt by the Tournament's deadliest man.  
  
Malcolm jogged off around the corner. John smiled and watched as he moved around the corner. Flashes of red and blue. John and all the other fighters respawned back in the arena, they all had weapons.  
  
"But why the hell is there a Goliath on the middle of the map?" John said as he found himself boxed in because of the sheer size of the machine. It disappeared again; it was gone, as were the rest of the contestants.  
  
John checked his wrist pad. Everybody except him and Malcolm had been 'pulverized'. 'A one-on-one with Malcolm?' John shouted to himself in his head. Thinking of the man, he appeared, with a Flak cannon, and blew John to bits.  
  
"Man, this is seriously fucked up!" John shouted as he respawned again.  
  
It was pretty obvious who was behind all of this. Phoenix, who else? But this time somebody was with him. Probably the only man who was not with his team watching the match. Vick was standing next to Phoenix who was sitting in the chair laughing aloud.  
  
For the first time, Vick was chuckling too. Something that only happened once in a life time for him. They were both enjoying the carnage they were causing in the arena. But it was broken by 6 Liandri guards with 'Grace' (from Unreal 2: The Awakening) guns.  
  
"Hey you! Step away from the computer. Now!" the lead guard shouted at them. He cocked the pistol, and the other guards did the same. Phoenix calmly stood up from the chair and approached the guards.  
  
The guard took a step back, pointing the gun at Phoenix's head. Phoenix grabbed the weapon from his hand blew the guards head off without a second thought. A wry smile spread across Phoenix's lips.  
  
The other guards; startled by the brutality were reluctant to fire. Phoenix approached them as well. He punched another guard in the face, the others started shooting. Only three rounds were fired, and in the time it took Phoenix to kill 6 people with one gun, a stray bullet had hit the computer and made it reset and malfunction, another missed, and one hit Vick in the foot.  
  
"Godammit" Phoenix said as the computer fizzed and melted under the heat. Vick was not happy either; he hopped on his good foot over to the computer and observed the damage.  
  
Everything was back to normal in the match, but the scores had had 10 points added on, this didn't really bother anybody, it just gave them a confidence booster, even though they gained no actual advantage.  
  
John grabbed the lightening gun and looked down over the area where the Flak cannon usually appears. It was clear; John dropped down and took the Flak cannon and the ammo surrounding it.  
  
He loaded the flak into the gun and headed down a long corridor with a creaky wooden floor. A double damage was directly in front of him. "Oh yeah" John said to himself and ran over it.  
  
A purple shield went over John's gun, it felt more powerful already. Outlaw was the lucky victim. Outlaw was going to check that the double damage had appeared, and John was waiting for him.  
  
With one clean shot, Outlaw's diaphragm was blown completely of his legs. Blood smeared the walls. John moved on.  
  
Malcolm dodged left, and then leap-frogged to his right, narrowly avoiding the rocket. It crashed into the wall behind him, blowing him forwards and onto his front. He was quickly back up on his feet.  
  
The lightening gun wasn't good for this type of fighting, the only other gun he had was an Assault Rifle, which wouldn't do much good against somebody with a rocket launcher, even if he did have an advantage over them with skill.  
  
Remus paused to load up his rocket launcher, Malcolm rolled to his left, aimed down the sights for a split second and a burst of electricity took Remus' head gracefully off his shoulders.  
  
The lifeless body dropped to the floor, Malcolm picked up his rocket launcher and dropped down on to the lower level and ran towards the crossroads. 'Viper is on a killing spree' flashed up on Malcolm's wrist pad.  
  
Malcolm smiled and was ready to take care of it. The crossroad was pure havoc, and Malcolm's presence didn't help in calming it down. He spotted John, the double damage working greatly to his advantage.  
  
Malcolm wouldn't be able to take John on frontally, even if he had skill advantage, skill is nothing when the other man has a much more powerful weapon. He'd have to catch him by surprise.  
  
John's double damage only had 10 seconds left, he had made good use of it though, he still had enough time to get a few more people. He wheeled around and looked down at the main crossroads for any victims.  
  
Malcolm silently ran behind John's back, John wheeled around to where Malcolm had just been, there was nothing there. He turned back. Malcolm was right in front of him. John gasped and opened his mouth from the surprise.  
  
Malcolm finished him quickly with a flak cannon of his own. The double damage on John's gun had run out. Malcolm checked his wrist pad; John was only 1 kill away from tying with his score.  
  
He needed some quick, important kills to get a fresh margin above John's score. Blobs of toxic waste flew in from Malcolm's left. He turned to see where it came from, his split-second reactions narrowly avoiding him from taking a shot in the face.  
  
It sailed past him, almost in slow motion. It was Baird firing at him. Malcolm rolled to his left, more blobs of the toxic material sticking to the floor around him; forcing him to take his steps carefully.  
  
Baird ran out of ammo for the Bio-rifle. Malcolm saw the chance and charged towards him, Baird couldn't think what to do; he was smashed back into the window behind him, the glass cracking with the force of his corpse.  
  
Something told John to duck, a sixth sense. He turned around and ducked, Skakruk's jagged claws merely scratching him on the cheek. Fresh blood trickled down the side of John's face.  
  
This was the first time he had faced a Skaarj head on. Skakruk took another swipe; John rolled to his left and fired at his leg with his Shock rifle. He hit it, but didn't really cause any damage; it just made the Skaarj angrier.  
  
Skakruk snatched the gun from John's hand and literally tore it apart with his claws. The strange purple gas in the shock rifle dispersed into the air. John pulled out a Shield gun, the last resort he had.  
  
Skakruk tried to do the same with the shield gun, John quickly put up the shield and blocked Skakruk's claws from ripping it apart, but it did take out all the power left in the shield, it was nearly depleted.  
  
John switched off the shield for a split second to recharge it, Skakruk took another swipe, the shield wasn't enough to block it, and the weapon was slashed out of John's hands. Skakruk also slashed John's lower arms in the same motion.  
  
John grabbed his arm; blood seeped out of the wound and ran down his arm like tear drops. The Skaarj towered over him, he was at least 7 foot tall, and he looked even bigger after he bowled John to the floor.  
  
John leapt back up on his feet; he saw the shield gun just teetering on the edge of the level above the flak cannon spawn area. He quickly made a dash for it; Skakruk was way ahead of him.  
  
Before John even took a full step, Skakruk tripped him and caused him to land on his hands and knees. John got back up; he had twisted his ankle in the fall, only a slight hindrance.  
  
The fight was very unfair, John wasn't as violent and ruthless as a Skaarj, some people would argue with that, but John didn't think so. John ran at the Skaarj, at least if he was killed he would go down trying.  
  
A fresh burst of anger and rage came over John, he sprinted towards him, it took the Skaarj by surprise, but John could tell this is what he wanted. John faked a punch to his upper body, then went low and kicked him the leg that he shot him in earlier.  
  
He wanted to work on the leg until he truly crippled the Skaarj, he went in with another shot, the Skaarj let out an angry cry. He grabbed the back of John's head and lifted him off the ground.  
  
John's legs kicked and waved around violently, it reminded him of the court case when he was taken away. Skakruk readied his right hand and it was imminent what was going to happen.  
  
John swung with his leg and scored a lucky on Skakruk's elbow joint, making him bend his arm and drop John from his grip. John had another flash back, Skakruk's body being smeared out and the small moment when John knocked over the jug of water when he was being dragged away.  
  
Skakruk was on the attack this time, catching John off guard and cutting him across the left cheek. John desperately tried to ignore the stinging sensation and carried on fighting. John looked at the wound his Skakruk's leg, he knew he that the Skaarj knew he was going to go for the wound.  
  
John lunged forwards and upper-cutted the Skaarj with force. He was knocked back; John hit him in the wound. The Skaarj howled, it echoed throughout the whole arena. Skakruk was really angry; he threw John back against a wall and approached him quickly.  
  
He used his sharp elbow repeatedly on John's face; he was pinned up against as wall, blood came down from John's temple, he was nearly slipping out of consciousness. He fought against it, his vision kept blacking out, but it slowly came back each time.  
  
Skakruk was obviously toying with him, taking his time when he hit him. John was timing his punches. '1-2-1-2' John waited for a gap in the pattern, he struck, a sharp blow in his wound, making him keel over, then an uppercut in the side of the mouth with his foot.  
  
It broke one of his small tusks off. 'Crack' was the only sound John heard, and then the roar of the Skaarj as green blood escaped his jaw and the other open wound. John limped over to the shield gun, his face, leg and arms hurting.  
  
The shield gun felt heavier than ever before mainly because of the wounds John sustained. John's limp turned into a fast jog, then that formed into a sprint, he charged up the shield gun still running towards the injured Skaarj, he pushed the gun up into Skakruk's chin, the top of his head burst open, his body dropped to the floor.  
  
John dropped the shield gun, he checked his wrist pad. He was 5 kills behind Malcolm, now 6. He needed to move and catch up. He started running again, he lost all energy, he lost his senses, he dropped to the floor, drained of everything, dead.  
  
John was relieved he was given up then, now he was fully replenished, even with the scar across his arm still there, it didn't cause much of a problem. John was back in the action. Malcolm was on 96, John was on 90, he needed to catch up and get a few kills.  
  
John ran forwards and up a rather steep wooden ramp, collecting some health vials as he went. He came up to the place where he had just fought Skakruk earlier, and surprise, surprise, Skakruk was there again, crouching at the edge and looking down over the flak cannon, ready to take out any unsuspecting victims.  
  
John crept up behind him; he launched a grenade from his assault rifle just behind his back foot. The grenade went up, blowing Skakruk up and over the edge, his severed leg following him.  
  
John fired another grenade down to his body, just to be sure; Jakob was in the wrong place and the wrong time, the aimless grenade exploding right by his head, blasting him into a crumpled heap. "Double Kill!"  
  
John dropped down to get the flak cannon, he loaded some spare flak shells into the weapon, Baird came from around the corner and rushed for the flak cannon, ignoring John just for the weapon.  
  
John fired at Baird in surprise, he fell down, a fresh wound in his foot stopped him. He was being chased, that's why he wanted the weapon so badly, then Malcolm came around the same corner.  
  
John fired again, yellow flashed around Malcolm, he must have got the shield pack, he fired again, with the same result, again he fired, finally piercing the shield around him. Malcolm turned and fired with his link gun.  
  
A powerful beam shot out of the gun, John ducked and the beam hit the wall behind him, it was like a tracking device, constantly following him everywhere, John was just managing to avoid it. He was ducking, jumping, dodging and rolling to get way from it. He took a small shot in the gut too.  
  
A break in the fire gave John his chance, leapt for Malcolm and fired a close range shot with his flak cannon, he then fired a ball of red hot flak into the area and obliterated him. Then, without thinking, he killed Baird who was just making his escape.  
  
The score was 97 to Malcolm, 95 to John, he was catching up. John picked up some health vials and swapped his flak cannon for a discarded rocket launcher. Divisor came up onto John's level from down on the crossroads.  
  
John fired one rocket, it was all it took, Divisor's body was punched by the rocket, she hit the window behind her at an angle and then fell the 12 foot drop back down on to the crossroad level.  
  
99 to Malcolm, 97 to John now, John was getting more nervous every second, desperate to beat Malcolm's ever increasing score. Havoc reigned again down at the crossroads; John stood at one end of the road, and fired a three rocket spiral into the fray.  
  
A body flew out from the smoke. It was Succubus, her limbs hacked up. He fired another rocket into the smoke, another kill. It was Outlaw. That put him equal with Malcolm's score.  
  
John's heart beat was the only thing he heard, sweat continued to pour down his face. Suddenly, a subconscious count down started in his head. '5...4...3' he kept going, John knew Malcolm's winning kill was merely split seconds away.  
  
John ran into the crossroads, he saw Malcolm, firing at somebody with a minigun. '2.....1' John was only a few feet away from Malcolm, he fired a single rocket at him.  
  
'1...0' the count down stopped.Malcolm got the kill. The match stopped. Malcolm, John and all the others spawned back into the stadium. Just in time, the rocket missed him by inches. John saw it miss. A let out a cry of disbelief. "Godammit! So close!"  
  
The thought that John had just been barely beaten by Malcolm in a few milliseconds didn't occur to him. For everybody else, it was a huge triumph, getting within a kill of the Tournament's deadliest man.  
  
Everybody was back in the stadium. The crowd was almost deafening, most were cheering for Malcolm, but it was hard to tell, many were looking at John, cheering, there was so much noise it was impossible to tell what they were saying.  
  
"Did you see that sports fans?!!" the commentator screamed excitedly. "What an amazing match we had there. Malcolm the victor, but so, so close behind was our new fighter, VIPER!!" the crowd went absolutely wild. Malcolm walked over to John.  
  
John wasn't afraid this time, he smiled and laughed as he walked over. Malcolm reached out his hand. John shook it gladly. Malcolm smiled and waved at the crowd, camera's and banners going up all over the place.  
  
He timed the hand-shake just right; anybody could tell he had been in this business for years upon years. John and Malcolm walked down to the lift together and disappeared from view with cameras and cheers still raging.  
  
As the lift went further and further down, the noise of the crowd was reduced to an almost sound. Malcolm and John didn't say anything to each other; Malcolm was looking down at the floor. John was looking at Malcolm, almost in awe of him.  
  
The lift slowed down and the doors opened. Malcolm strode out calmly; John came up to his cell. Malcolm offered to shake his hand again. "Well done kid." Malcolm said, his voice was cool and calm. "When you rise up through these ranks. I'm sure you'll kick some ass, even if it's mine. And hey, get Phoenix for me too man." John smiled and let out a small chuckle.  
  
Malcolm turned the corner and John went into his cell. Seconds after he came in and sat down, Lock, Amon, Rae and Gunther burst into his room cheering and clapping. "What a match, what a godamn match!" Lock shouted above the noise.  
  
Vick hear the noise from a few meters away, he limped up right outside the cell. He needed to bandage his foot quickly; if he had a limp it would raise suspicion. He couldn't get it healed at the Liandri medical area because it was an unauthorized injury, and had nothing to do with the tournament.  
  
Vick crept past the cell, ignoring the pain; he slipped silently into his room and rummaged around hurriedly in the bathroom for a first aid kit.  
  
(a/n) Phew. Sorry for another painstakingly long chapter, that was bordering on 15 pages there. But most of it was action so I hope it was worth it in the end. I wanted to make this match semi-realistic. I hate it when brand new fighters who have never fired a weapon in their life come along, and within two matches they just own everything. Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to D-Day and all those who lost their lives fighting for our freedom. I was thinking of doing Overlord Assault match for the original UT to honour them. Please state in a review if you think I should do it or not. Thanks! :) 


	11. Overlord

Fight for Freedom (Special Chapter)  
  
(a/n) I'm glad to see that people still like the story, and most people thought that I should do an AS-Overlord special. This match has no link with the story at all, but I will use the same characters from Kill Switch. This match is dedicated to the men who fought and died on the beaches of Normandy, and throughout Europe. We will remember you all.....  
  
Special Chapter 11: Overlord  
  
"5...4...3...2...1...Begin"  
  
John lunged forwards and grabbed the minigun and sniper rifle in front of him, the others all did the same. The sounds of artillery and gunfire rattled in John's ears, he didn't have much time to observe his surroundings.  
  
John stood still for a second just to get a look at where everything was, he didn't have any idea where he was going. Two tall towers obviously dominated the beachhead; it was snipers galore up there.  
  
Two small bunkers lay directly ahead of them, the left one sporting an automated turret, it didn't cause much trouble, it was more of a nuisance. The right bunker was free for any brave man to try and slow down the attack.  
  
Lock pushed John forwards roughly. "Don't hang around kid! You're a moving target!" he pushed John forward again, John started running in the same direction as Rae and Amon.  
  
Lock followed close behind, his eyes scanning the two towers, both were empty, unusual. They couldn't let us just walk through the beach, if this part fell apart for the attackers then the whole advance would lose momentum.  
  
John checked behind him to see if Lock was still there. 'Zip' as he turned, Lock's head had been violently ripped off its shoulders by a sniper bullet.  
  
"Shit!" John exclaimed. "Man down!" he shouted through the radio. He crouched, he didn't know where the bullet came from, and he wasn't really up for checking it out either.  
  
He pressed up against the small bunker on the right. He thought of climbing through, but the gap was too narrow for him. John, still crouching, peered around the corner to see if he could find anything.  
  
Gunther, Rae and Amon had nearly made it to the bunker entrance, then, what sounded like an artillery round came from a small hole in the canyons that surrounded the area.  
  
The shell hit the ground with almighty crash. Rae, Gunther and Amon were blown to pieces, blood and flesh coated surrounding ground. John ducked back around the bunker; he stuck his head around the corner once more, to see what was left of his comrades.  
  
There wasn't anything left, of their bodies, or indeed John's head. Snipers had taken the tower and were as ruthless as any sniper had to be.  
  
Vick was staying by the boat using his sniper rifle to take out as many people as he could. His score was increasing quite rapidly. Lock told him to give the team covering fire while they moved in.  
  
Vick agreed and started firing away, more bullet casings being flung out of the side of the rifle. Rae was hit in the leg; she could carry on, but not very fast. Another shot in the chest finished her off, her body floating calmly on the water.  
  
John, Lock and Gunther made a charge for the entrance at the end of the beach. Gunther's head was blown to bits, and Lock was hit in the arm, only making him drop his weapon.  
  
John looked up at the tower on the right. They were against Blood Fist. The whole team was made of mechs. John saw Cathode with a sniper rifle in hand looking through the scope right at John.  
  
John knew she was going to shoot for his head; the split second moment seemed to last for ever as he kept running and running towards his target. John was merely waiting for him to hear the shot.  
  
John sensed the trigger being pulled, he ducked, it was a natural instinct. The shot was fired at the exact same time; Lock got hit instead, the bullet bringing him to a complete halt, his lifeless body dropping to the floor.  
  
John swore, he felt guilty that Lock had to die instead of him; he didn't feel he was worth it. John looked back up at the tower; he saw her aim again, only to have her fragile, brittle body almost blown in half at the waist.  
  
Vick taunted to her over the radio, the body fell out of the tower and landed with a nasty sounding 'Crunch'. John felt relived as the body broke into shards of metal and fragments as it hit the floor. It was a clear run for John to get to the entrance.  
  
John checked behind him, Gunther and Amon were making their way up the beach. John ran down the small ramp and down into the bunker. "Blue team infiltrated the bunker!" flashed up on his wrist pad.  
  
Supplies and ammo lay in the corner, John picked up what he could and he left some for the rest of the team. He headed down the slightly steeper ramp and came into a room with about 4 pillars in it, then on the right there was a small concrete ramp that lead on to a slightly higher platform which led through a doorway.  
  
As soon as John entered the room, bullet flew everywhere chipping chunks out of the pillars. John used the pillars as cover; Gunther charged into the room and was cut to pieces by heavy minigun fire. "Shit" John said as the body was pounded by the constant chain of bullets. Rae and Lock came in shortly afterward. Lock managed to gun down Mandible and then take cover, but Rae suffered the same fate as Gunther.  
  
John used the distraction to point his gun from around one of the pillars and start firing back. It worked to some affect. Syzgy was forced back out through the door way. John and Lock sprinted in afterwards.  
  
Syzgy had taken shelter in a corner where he could not be seen. John ran in first and was fatally wounded by his flak cannon at close range. Lock saw what happened and made a jump as he came into view of Syzgy's weapon.  
  
Lock fired with his minigun, piercing holes through his fragile structure. Sparks flew on each bullet that hit, Lock didn't let up until Syzgy's main metal body was savagely ripped apart.  
  
Lock heard the computer voice for Syzgy malfunction and fail. He collected some weapons and ammo in the room full of boxes and went up the steep ramp. He was followed by Vick and Rae.  
  
John respawned in the ammo room, he saw Lock and the others running around the corner on the ramp ahead of him, he followed them. No supplies were left there when John arrived; it didn't bother him that much.  
  
"Man down!" Lock cried over the radio as it was fuzzed out by gunfire and explosions. John approached the control room. A stray bullet chipped up a bit of dirt near John's shin. John stumbled in surprise and peeked his head over the edge of the ramp.  
  
He was spotted instantly. A ball of flak flew in and exploded on the wall next to John. Flak bounced around the corridor and several pieces hit John in the foot and leg. John felt the burning sensation in his leg and fo8nd it increasingly hard to ignore it.  
  
Gunther came up to John's side, keeping his head down. He helped John up and they both went in. Gunther's head appeared over the edge as they both ran into the defense. It was instantly ripped off.  
  
A rocket exploded to John's right and pushed him to the left slightly. John prayed that the rest of his team would show up and help him. Flak and bullets riddled the surrounding wall behind him, the huge gun in the center of the cavern went off, the huge bang shaking the cavern even more.  
  
John was running as fast as he could with his bad leg, he took one step up the ramp up to the control room and rockets bombarded the ground in front of him, knocking him sharply backwards and into the wall. Another bullet finished him off.  
  
In that instant, Lock, Vick, Amon and Rae ran into the room all guns blazing. Corrosion was sniping on a platform above their heads. Amon crouched for a second and aimed through her scope and fired a clean shot at his torso.  
  
It went in one side and came out the other. Corrosion fell backwards off the catwalk and landed on his neck in a very painful looking way. Amon hollered and moved forwards with the rest of the group.  
  
Lock was taking shots at Cathode. She kept popping up and firing a few rounds at the team. She was a pest now, and Lock was setting about killed her. Vick made a dash up the ramp, using his flak cannon to kill Syzgy and blast him off the edge, then a ball of flak made him follow Syzgy's body soon after.  
  
Amon suffered from Cathode's pot-shots. Cathode appeared with a minigun and fired a burst, a lucky one. Amon was running towards the ramp and caught all the bullets in the neck and head.  
  
Blood burst out of her neck and face, the force of the bullet knocked her so she collapsed on her back, blood still leaking from her. She was as good as dead. Rae checked her body and moved on up the ramp and into the control room.  
  
"One minute remains!" the commentator boomed in the fighters earpieces. John heard it as he ran into the cavern. Cathode was still taking potshots, and Lock seemed to have had enough of it. He fired a few more rounds and then charged up the ramp, John thought she would be taken care of from there.  
  
Cathode body tripped and crumbled off the edge of the catwalk. John heard it and looked up to see what it was.  
  
The surprisingly heavy body dropped onto him, John caught the body and fell on his back. Lock popped up over the edge and fired some rounds off with a minigun. John used Cathode as a shield, bullets 'chinged' of the body. John buried his face into the ground, desperate not to get hit.  
  
The firing stopped, and John threw the body off him. "Christ are you trying to kill me?!" he shouted angrily and Lock. "Sorry" Lock replied rather dismissively and moved on.  
  
"20 seconds" the announcer said. John's heart rate sped up, he saw Lock just inches away from the control room get smashed by a minigun. John feared the same fate and was reluctant to move.  
  
More bullets deflected off the area around him, forcing him to make a move or die. Gunther entered the room with a rocket launcher and fired a few rockets up at the catwalk. As John made it half way up the ramp and saw a stray rocket plough its way into Rapier's chest, making him fall on his back, but it didn't kill him, John finished the job.  
  
John looked left into the control to check if it was clear, what sounded like a minigun came from behind him. "10 seconds left" the announcer said, piling on even more pressure.  
  
Sparks and bullets flew around the control room. It was a miracle the nothing was hit or broken. John blind fired a few shots back, he hit something. He heard the sound of pain coming from one of the mechs.  
  
John fired a ball of flak into the area, he heard a mech malfunction. "6...5...4...3" the dead body of the mech flopped out from it's hiding place. John turned and fired two ball of flak into the control room.  
  
"2...1. Blue team is the winner!!" the announcer said. He was cut off half- way through saying 'one'. John breathed a sigh of relief, he wiped his forehead. He put his hand over his heart; he didn't really realize how quickly it was beating. And now he had to defend it himself.  
  
"5...4...3...2...1...Begin" the announcer said. John spawned in a room with about 5 different portals. He looked straight ahead and above the portal was a sign saying. 'Bunkers' John went into it.  
  
In a flash of white light John had appeared in the bunkers right at the front of the assault. He turned left and took a minigun, some armour and supplies. John cautiously lifted his head up and looked through the gap.  
  
In a split second he was firing rampantly with his minigun. His finger didn't come off the trigger until he was out of ammo. John had managed to mow down Mandible and Rapier, but Syzgy was returned fire and forced John to duck down.  
  
Chinks of the concrete surrounding John were ripped out with the bullet flying around the beach. John checked his minigun; out of ammo. No ammo had respawned yet, but he figured he could be more helpful elsewhere.  
  
John teleported back into main portal room. He looked left, and then right. 'Left tower' John thought he try his hand at sniping skills here. He went through with a flash of white light.  
  
Vick was already there constantly firing with his rifle. John picked one a up, crouched and aimed through the sight.  
  
John had never fired one of these rifles before, he was slightly reluctant to pull the trigger at first, as he didn't know what to expect. He aimed into the sight and leveled it at Syzgy's body.  
  
He squeezed the trigger gently. 'Bang', the kick of the weapon was quite violent, but not unbearable. Syzgy stumbled and faltered in his stride, Corrosion helped him up, but Vick put a bullet in his head with surprising accuracy. John fired again at Syzgy and he stopped moving.  
  
Cathode had made a good run up the beach, the mortar round had missed her and she was nearly at the entrance. John wheeled around and fired a shot at her, it hit the ground just next to her ankle.  
  
John was starting to get nervous, suddenly; Gunther turned the corner of the entrance with a minigun and tore Cathode to shreds with it. Her body coming to a halt just a few feet away from the entrance.  
  
Lock came into view as well, and patted Gunther on the shoulder. He said something to him and disappeared back down the entrance. John then looked to his right and saw Rae with a rocket launcher reigning down more explosive hell than the snipers.  
  
The defense the team had was exceptional compared to the shabby, unorganized defense Blood Fist had put up. It made John feel slightly proud when he looked at it. He turned his head back to the beach and starting firing more shots at the opposing team.  
  
Rapier made a charge up the beach, bullet chipping up dirt around his heels. He kept focused and concentrated on getting to the entrance quickly to avoid being killed by the mortar.  
  
The mortar went off, but far behind him. Gunther was the only thing stopping him now. He started firing before he even saw him, so he would have the advantage when they spotted each other.  
  
Gunther's caught the bullet all in the head, making him collapse flat on his back. Rapier advanced into the bunker. 'Red team infiltrated the bunker!' flashed up all over the wrist pads or monitors of every person in the map.  
  
"Shit" Lock said as he read it with astonishment. 'How did he get through our defense?' he said to himself in his head. He ran to check the left tower. He could see why he got through.  
  
As soon as Lock came into the tower, a bullet struck his foot, making him fall on his side. "Ah shit!" Lock said somewhat quietly and looked at John who was also flat on the floor, Vick's body was headless and still getting hit from the enemy who was none the wiser about his death.  
  
More bullets flew in, striking to the tower and showering them in dust. Lock put his head up for a split second. A line of snipers had been formed. Constantly suppressing the towers and the bunkers, and there was no beat in the firing. So there was no opportunity to shoot back when there was a break.  
  
"Go back through the portal, and then wait for while so they think we are gone. Once we've done that, we can jump em', and blow the shit out of those guys! You with me?" Lock shouted at John.  
  
"I'm right next to you man, you don't have to shout." John replied calmly. "Yeah let's do this" he said afterwards.  
  
Lock leapt through the portal first, John followed quickly afterwards. Lock was firing at the entrance rampantly. "Shit! We spent too long! They've broken through!" Lock shouted as he fired a bullet into Mandible's back, killing him.  
  
"C'mon let's go!" Lock said and pushed John through the teleport and into the portal room.  
  
Rae pounded Syzgy's body with lead and he slid down the ramp and landed at Rae's feet. "Need backup!" she called down the radio as she saw Corrosion and Cobalt coming around the corner.  
  
She open fired again, and then crouched slightly. Cobalt tripped and landed flat on his face when coming down the steep ramp. Cobalt opened fire at Rae and hit her in the arm.  
  
Rae ducked back around the corner and held her arm tightly, blood seeped through her fingers. She plucked up courage and turned back around the corner again. Cobalt was literally in her face. He hit the trigger and blasted her down to the floor.  
  
At the very instant, Lock and John came through the slightly elevated doorway and shot Cobalt in the chest and neck, making him collapse in the center of the room.  
  
"One minute remains!" the announcer said. John felt slightly relieved when he heard it. But the relief was short lived. Syzgy, Cathode and Rapier came into the room and killed Lock with their miniguns, John was hit in the shoulder and forced to fall back.  
  
Gunther was running towards the gunfire when John came from around the corner with his shoulder bleeding. "Hey! Hey! Don't go round there we got more comin'! John panted as he ran towards him.  
  
Gunther saw Syzgy coming from around the same corner as John had a few second ago. Gunther couldn't fire without hitting John. Syzgy fired first with his minigun. Gunther was powerless to help as he saw John's armour rip open and blood coat his back.  
  
John's body buckled and landed on the floor, in that instant Gunther opened fire, doing the same to Syzgy. Cathode followed in his footsteps and suffered the same fate.  
  
"30 seconds left." The announcer said. Gunther moved behind a box that was level with his head when he crouched down. He propped his gun up on the box and raised his head so he could just see over it. He wasn't going to move.  
  
Rapier came slowly around the corner. He didn't spot Gunther, but Gunther could see him perfectly. Gunther waited couple more seconds, Rapier spotted him. He had to fire early, I made no difference anyway.  
  
Sparks and oil coated Rapier's body as he fell on his side, leaking his fluids all over the floor making it slippery. "20 seconds" Gunther called for backup, he couldn't take on anymore than two people in this position. He turned his head and looked up the ramp to see if anybody was coming. There wasn't anybody there.  
  
Gunther turned his head and heard the all too familiar sound of an approaching bullet. The bullet burst Gunther's cranium wide open, blood coating the wall behind him. Mandible taunted him.  
  
Blood fist had only 10 seconds left, but they were approaching fast, if they kept up the momentum, they could break through with no problem. "Defensive positions!" Lock ordered via radio. John knew what was happening this time.  
  
He positioned himself on the catwalk in the cavern, his sniper rifle in hand. "5...4...3...2" Mandible's head came over the horizon, john aimed and took it clean off. "1...Blue team is the winner!" the announcer shouted. John let out a long breath. The team teleported back into the stadium.  
  
The crowd didn't seem to be so interested in the special tribute match, there wasn't a huge crowd, but the people who were there cheered anyway.  
  
(a/n) So, there you go, hope you liked it. I enjoyed writing it. Please review! :) 


	12. So close, yet so farPart 1

Fight for Freedom  
  
(a/n) I'm glad you liked the random act of violence I wrote on the Overlord map, I knew something was strange about Cathode in Blood Fist, I just always associate her with the team because she is a mech, so from now on she'll only appear when she's either being hacked up, mangled, slaughtered or cut up into handy bite-sized pieces, but anyway, with thanks to Miranon, Dynamis, Lacrease (you finally came back!), Ashsalve DT and Baronic who are keeping this story alive! Today's action-packed fight will see Kill Switch getting a shot at the CTF trophy, but Thunder Crash stands in their way. Will they make it? Read and find out!  
  
Read, enjoy and review! :)  
  
Chapter 12: So close, yet so far...Part 1  
  
John trudged slowly from his cell up towards the lift at the end of the corridor. His back, his head, and just his overall body hurt from the Deathmatch in Rankin. He didn't realize how much he needed to get some rest with all the cheers and celebrations that followed his very close second in the match.  
  
Gunther was waiting for the lift impatiently; he was tapping his foot and looking around the area with a sharp turn every time he moved his head.  
  
"C'mon for Christ sake." He said to himself, he controlled himself from kicking the machine and breaking it. John came up to his side smiling.  
  
"Hey Gunther. How long you been waiting for? 2, 3 seconds?" John chuckled, Gunther barely accepted the joke.  
  
"Ha-ha, very funny." Gunther said sarcastically, when the lift finally came down. John flashed his wrist pad along the sensor machine and it acknowledged him, Gunther got on the lift, and John followed, just catching it as it went up.  
  
John stretched his stiff arms and legs, shaking them about and hopping on the spot. Gunther watched him doing this, looking slightly amused. The lift reached the top, quicker than usual; Lock was there first, as always.  
  
He turned his head and acknowledged them both, he was looking slightly nervous and relieved by their presence. John glanced over Lock's shoulder and saw the crowd; it was the biggest he had ever seen.  
  
Thousands of fans here, most to see Thunder Crash in action. People were packed into the stadium, each with about a couple of inches between themselves and the person next to them. It was strange people crammed themselves into such a small space just to see a match they could have watched at home.  
  
Lock saw John looking over his shoulder and turned to face in the same direction. "That's a hellova' crowd out there today, I'd say about 75% are here from Malcolm alone, no one cares much for his team, not since he broke up with Brock and Lauren." He turned his head back to Gunther and John.  
  
The lift came up again, this time with Vick and Amon on it. Vick's foot was lightly bandaged so it would fit in his boot, his limp had been reduced to slight unbalanced in his stride. He could only walk a few steps normally, but after that the pain started to affect the way he walked.  
  
Vick figured he could ask to go on defense for the match, therefore he wouldn't have to run anywhere in a hurry. He knew Lock would appreciate a break from his normal aggressive approach.  
  
Amon saw the crowd in the stadium; her eyes lit up and she smiled uncontrollably. She was desperate to get out there and show off. A small speaker on the corner gave the team a message. "Thunder Crash has given the message and is ready" the announcement ended.  
  
They were just waiting for Rae now, and as they were thinking of her, she came up from the lift and walked into the middle of the group to observe the crowd. "Ok, let's go!" Lock said over the noise of the crowd. The team walked forwards into the main part of the stadium, and so did Thunder Crash at the opposite end.  
  
Thunder Crashes' theme tune was played. It was a heavy rock tune, but with a good beat. They only played a theme tune when they were obvious favorites to win, but in any case they would play it, just because they are who they are.  
  
Amon was instantly waving and blowing kisses to all the fans here to see Kill Switch fight. The size of the crowd there to see Kill Switch was tiny compared to the amount of people who came so see Thunder Crash.  
  
John looked across at the walk way Thunder Crash was coming down. Malcolm was at the front, with spectators behind the barriers reaching out their hands, hoping that he will notice one and slap it or hold it momentarily.  
  
Behind Malcolm were his fellow teammates: Annika, Tamika, Riker, Othello and Aryss. Each one of them highly ranked and feared, but none of them looked particularly angry or short tempered. All of them acted as calmly as Malcolm, John admired them for it.  
  
Their theme tune still echoed throughout the whole area, it was literally deafening. John looked at his team compared to theirs. Lock and Rae were up at the front, looking around and waving, whilst Vick and Gunther were not displaying much emotion towards the crowd, they wanted to get the match started. John was at the back with Amon, waving at the crowd whilst still walking towards the platform at the end of the walk-way where the two paths met.  
  
Malcolm and the rest of his team lined up on the platform and waited for John and Amon to join up with the rest of their own team. Finally, they were in place, Amon waved one more time as the commentator's voice came on and Thunder Crashes' theme tune faded away.  
  
"Well, hello sports fans! We have an absolutely earth-shattering match for you today! The fight for the CTF top spot and trophy!" the announcer shouted and the crowd cheered even louder. "The challenging team: Kill Switch has come far since its early days when it was just fighting for survival at the bottom of the CTF board. But now with its newest and brightest addition to the team Viper, whom we all know for his sensational performance in the randomly picked match, they have risen up the board and almost dominated the whole section. But of course luck has to be involved in here somewhere, and the only reason Kill Switch have not had to fight The Corrupt, is because as you know Enigma, Virus and Xan have suffered some injuries in their last match, and Enigma was badly damaged by Skakruk in one of the main highlights of yesterdays random-picked match!" The crowd cheered and jeered some more.  
  
"And, now without further a due, let's get this match started! So, would Malcolm please come up into the center and hit the button. I'm sure you don't need me telling you this but its Liandri regulations that I do!" the commentator finally stopped talking and let Malcolm chose the map without any interruption.  
  
Malcolm strode calmly into the center of the platform. He looked at John, he smiled slightly and nodded at him. John did the same back. Gunther looked at John for a moment and then looked back at Malcolm.  
  
Malcolm took his sunglasses off and raised his fist in the air. Then he brought it down hard and the map was...CTF-January. Malcolm smiled with satisfaction and walked back towards his team. John overheard Lock saying "shit" after the map was displayed; it was obviously not one of his favorites.  
  
A small floating camera whirred over John's head and then came round and did a front on view on the team, and then it did the same to Thunder Crash, except it zoomed in and did a close up on Malcolm. The team was teleported into the arena in flashes of white, red and blue.  
  
"5...4...3...2...1...Begin" the announcer said.  
  
"I have a bad feeling about this one." Gunther said as he cocked his Assault Rifle. It was the first time John had ever heard Gunther say anything truly pessimistic, but John sensed it too. It all seemed a bit too sudden, from fighting for survival to clashing against the champions.  
  
January was a map like most others, a main fighting area, with the actual bases just being opposites of each other. The main action area was on a large submarine, which the map is built around. An under water passage was another way through, then the bases were a basic, small system with the actual flag being raised on a small catwalk at the back of the base. However, to compensate for the simple layout the map was certainly quite big, but it could be conquered, especially by Thunder Crash.  
  
Lock's voice came over the radio: "Gunther, Vick! Defend the base. John, Rae and I will attack, Amon, you can roam around and mop up what's left of em'!"  
  
The radio was a series of 'Roger that' and 'I hear ya'. John was slightly surprised that Lock gave the order that let him go up front. He was excited and nervous at the same time, he was about to go toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the whole Tournament.  
  
John was thinking all of this whilst he was running close behind Rae, with his Shock rifle in hand, with Lock and Rae with rocket launchers a few steps in front of him. The trio turned the corner and looked down a short and wide corridor which then went off to the left and into the main area where the submarine was.  
  
At the end of the corridor was a large pipe, where a sniper rifle lay underneath it, and just beyond there was a health pick-up, and some stacked boxes hid some adrenaline pills just incase.  
  
John (as usual) didn't have much time look at much else, as the fighting had already begun.  
  
A spiral of three rockets raced in from the opening on the left side of the corridor, a blossoming explosion knocking Lock back a few steps, but he wasn't hurt. Riker leapt around the corner, but was met with a shock rifle beam in the chest, hitting him in mid-air.  
  
He fell flat on his back, and was shot again on the floor, blood spraying upwards as the body lay very still.  
  
John didn't even have time to raise his weapon by the time Riker had been killed. "Oh boy" John said under his breath. "This one might be hard" he said as he turned left out in to the middle section.  
  
Malcolm was in mid-air as he had just jumped from the submarine onto the blue side on the arena. John saw him and almost admired him for a split- second before a rocket narrowly missed John's head and exploded on Lock's chest.  
  
John delayed reactions made him duck well after the rocket had gone past. He turned quickly and saw Lock flat on his back, motionless. John turned back and fired at Malcolm, he hit him in the chest just as he touched down.  
  
Rae fired too and a blow to the side of the head finished him off, his body being knocked side-ways off the side of the path and into the water, his body floating to the top and his famous navy beret sliding off his head and floating along side the body.  
  
Rae peeled off to the right and made her way towards the jump-pad. John followed her. He stepped on the yellow square on the floor and his body was ejected up and across onto the submarine.  
  
John spotted Othello on the other side of the submarine and fired a shot at him, it missed him by a few inches and Othello returned fire.  
  
John ducked behind the raised section of the submarine and bullets riddled the other side of John's cover-spot. John turned back around from his cover and fired two shots at Othello; he had made a run for the flag whilst still facing in John direction.  
  
The second shot hit Othello in the side of the head, but Othello got a shot in with his minigun moments before John's shot killed him. One of the armour piercing bullets ate its way through John's shoulder, knocking him back a step.  
  
John didn't realize how much the side of the sub dipped away, and lost balance and ended up toppling into the water head first with his legs almost going over his head. John's shins smashed into the sharp side of the red platform as John splashed into the water.  
  
John's shin armour had taken most of the force but it still hurt his legs. John shouted in the water to relief the pain, nothing but water bubble pouring out of his mouth. John swam towards the surface to try and carry on.  
  
Rae was watching John when he fell into the water. "Well, you've really excelled yourself there John" she said sarcastically. She watched for John to submerge before she went on.  
  
John's head popped up and Rae smiled at his stupidity. "I'm afraid our judges only gave that dive a 4.7 John!" she shouted over to him and laughed slightly, whilst quickly checking to see if anybody had emerged from the red base.  
  
John heard the joke and raised his middle finger at her and laughed himself. His laughing only lasted a few seconds when a shock beam burst out from underneath him, another followed quickly and hit John in the leg.  
  
John let out a cry of pain as blood stained the water around him, then a rocket hit him in the back and blow him up and out of the water. "Shit!" Rae shouted and yelled down the radio.  
  
"Guys we got people coming through the water! I'm gonna go after 'em, but if I don't make it you godamn better be there for when they get inside!" Rae shouted into her headset and dived head-first into the water. She saw Malcolm, Riker, Othello and Annika swimming through the tunnel, most of them slightly weighed down by their weapons. Rae had an advantage with her light shock rifle. She quickly swan after the squad, out-numbered, but she was going to give it a shot.  
  
She fired at Annika who was at the back of the squad, the beam hit her in the back, blood calmly leaking out of her body and filling the water with a thick red screen that seemed to cover the rest of the advancing team. Rae fired a shock ball into the crowd made a powerful combo using the shock beam. The explosion sent rippled through the water, and killed Riker in the process.  
  
Rae quickly pursued the rest of the team, and caught up a lot and saw them all submerging and attacking the base. Rae wasn't far behind, and submerged seconds afterwards. Only to be met by Othello and his sniper rifle barrel pointing straight at her. He was obviously expecting her.  
  
Rae didn't have time to open her mouth or widen her eyes, when the hi- velocity bullet ripped through her skull and burst out the back of it, smearing the wall in blood behind her. Othello smiled with satisfaction and ran after Malcolm hurriedly.  
  
"Vick, Gunther, you better get ready for some defending! You're the only thing between them and the flag!" Lock shouted bellowed down the radio as he discovered Rae's floating body near the minigun.  
  
"Roger that" came both replies. Gunther went down on one knee and aimed his Flak cannon so that anything that came around that corner would get a flak ball wedged in their mouth. Vick did the same with his Shock Rifle. Sweat dripped down Gunther's nose, strange seeing as he had had barely done anything this match, he was just plain nervous.  
  
Vick was more worried about his lacking ability to run and catch somebody without Lock or Rae finding out about his 'incident'. But it was suddenly cut out of his mind as Gunther let a ball of flak loose on the approaching Thunder Crash members.  
  
The ball of flak was dodged effortlessly by Malcolm, but Othello took a shard of it in the chest, nearly piercing his armour. Gunther fired a normal shot at both of them, again, Malcolm dodged, this time sustaining damage, but it was only his arm. But Othello was hit cleanly by a hail of red hot metal, tearing through his flesh and bones, leaving his body sliding down the ramp, on which Malcolm lunged towards the flag on.  
  
Vick fired a shock ball Malcolm, hitting him directly and injuring him a bit, Gunther's flak narrowly passed Malcolm's head as he grabbed the flag, right in front of Vick and Gunther.  
  
Malcolm sprinted up the middle ramp, with Vick firing shock beam at him, one hit him in the back, knocking him to his knees for a second, but he was back up and running again in no time. He disappeared over the top of the ramp.  
  
"Quick! Go get him!" Gunther said to Vick without looking at him. Vick didn't move. "Are you deaf? Go get him!" Gunther shouted and turned to Vick  
  
"You go get him, I'll stay here!" Vick replied calmly. Gunther looked confused and at the same time angry, but he didn't want to argue whilst Malcolm was getting away. "Whatever" Gunther said and sprinted up the middle ramp.  
  
Vick breathed out and glanced at his foot, he moved it sharply, and it stung badly. Vick squinted and breathed in with a 'hiss' sound. He just hoped Gunther would catch Malcolm in time.  
  
Gunther saw Malcolm run around the corner and down a small set of steps towards the submarine area. He was slightly injured, so Gunther could easily catch him up. Gunther leapt around the corner and fired a ball of flak just inches in front of Malcolm.  
  
Shards burst everywhere as Malcolm body was pushed backwards from the force, killing him, and most importantly, dropping the flag. Gunther grabbed it and ran back to defend the base. He passed John on the way; they smiled at each other and kept running.  
  
"Now what the hell was so hard about that Vick?!" Gunther shouted in his mind in anger. He came up the left hand ramp towards the flag, boisterously seeming out of breath. "  
  
"Now why the hell couldn't you do that?!" Gunther said as he pretended to pant. Vick turned his head away rather immaturely and aimed his rifle at the entrance, still ignoring Gunther. Gunther didn't bother asking him again, he stopped panting and did the same as Vick.  
  
Malcolm and Riker used the jump-pad to get onto the sub. Malcolm was armed with a rocket launcher and Riker had a minigun, but it was low on ammo. They both jumped onto the blue base level and ran towards the flag.  
  
Riker covered the corner as Malcolm moved towards the small flight of stairs. He leapt up them, and Riker quickly followed, Malcolm picked up some health vials and grabbed a shock rifle and handed it to Riker, he would use it after he ran out of ammo for his minigun.  
  
Malcolm and Riker both pulled out their Translocators and teleported themselves straight up through the hole above them, they both made it and charged down the middle ramp.  
  
"Shit, watch out!" Gunther shouted as he saw and pointed at Malcolm and Riker. Malcolm launched three rockets at the flag, trying to hurt both Vick and Gunther in the same blow. But Gunther and Vick were better than that, they leapfrogged out the way of the blast, rolled and returned fire.  
  
Riker sprayed the area with what he had left in his minigun; he hit Vick in each shoulder, knocking him back against the wall sitting upright. Gunther fired a flak ball near both of them; it killed Riker, and severely impeded Malcolm's progress, shards hitting him in the chest and legs.  
  
Vick fired a shock beam into the side of Malcolm's head, killing him inches away from the flag. Gunther wiped some of Malcolm's blood off his arm and jumped down below the flag to get some flak ammo.  
  
Vick started firing rampantly again, and Gunther realized that Othello and Tamika were now attacking them, Gunther ran under and up the ramp when a stray shock combo went off, not very far from him.  
  
Gunther was knocked flat of his back, blood dripped from his temple. Gunther struggled to get up and looked at where the flag was. "Blue flag taken!" the announcer shouted. And Gunther saw Othello standing with the flag, waiting to get a clean shot at Gunther.  
  
Gunther could just peek over the edge and not be seen, Othello must have been pretty dumb, maybe it was those sunglasses. Vick was dead, his legs blown clean off, and Tamika's body lay in a crumpled heap to Othello's left.  
  
Gunther took a chance and lunged forwards at Othello with his flak cannon and fired before Othello could react. His whole upper body was shredded and ripped apart in a flash; Gunther watched the pair of legs slip off the side of the ramp and land almost standing, as if some miracle had kept them alive. Gunther returned the flag.  
  
"Blue flag taken!" the announcer said.  
  
"What the fuck?!" Gunther said aloud and turned to see Annika sprinting up the middle ramp. Gunther clenched his fists tightly around the gun and ran after her. As she was just jumping down the hole to make her escape, Gunther fired a shot at her, it hit her in the back and she smashed her face on the side of the hole, killing her and splattering blood all over the side of it.  
  
Gunther returned the flag and headed back up to defend. "Hey guys. I'm gonna need some help up here, I don't think I can hold out much longer!" Gunther said breathlessly down the radio.  
  
"Roger that!" Lock shouted over the sound of gunfire. "John, go back and defend the base with..." There was a scream heard in the background. "Oh...err...yeah he'll be with you in a couple of seconds." Lock chuckled slightly and let rip with his minigun, cutting up Aryss and Tamika.  
  
Gunther smiled and saw John running up towards him. Gunther nodded at him and smiled. "What's it like over there?" Gunther asked eagerly. John shrugged, "It's ok, we're holding them off, but when they break through..." John clutched his side. "It hurts."  
  
Gunther shrugged. "It's been pretty wild on this end, and it's even harder when Vick doesn't do anything."  
  
"What?"  
  
"He keeps making me run after the flag instead of him, but he knows perfectly well he could do it himself. I always thought he like saving the day for our team. Oh well."  
  
A bullet chipped off the wall next to Gunther's head, taking a chunk out of the wall behind him.  
  
"Ok, here we go." Gunther said very calmly and patted John on the shoulder before opening up on Malcolm and Othello who were charging towards them. Gunther fired a shot with his Flak cannon, hurting Malcolm but not seriously.  
  
Malcolm fired a shock combo into the middle of John and Gunther, it knocked them both to the floor, John still firing with his minigun, he hit Othello in the chest, but Othello had already fired that shot that would kill John.  
  
A single bullet from Othello's minigun pierced the side of John's head and burst out the other side, killing him. Gunther swore and carried on firing, killing Othello with a hail of flak to the head and chest, his body dropping in front of Malcolm, who effortlessly hopped over it and grabbed the flag, and in the same motion, wheeled around the shot Gunther in the head.  
  
As soon as this instant happened, Vick came up to the flag areas for support, and saw Malcolm running up the middle ramp and heading home. "Vick, Vick! You need to stop Malcolm before he gets back to his base! You gotta do the work this time! Go! For Christ sake go!!" Gunther bellowed down the radio at Gunther.  
  
Gunther looked as Malcolm disappeared from view over the top of the middle ramp. He breathed out, and glanced at his foot. "Oh shit" Vick said.  
  
(a/n) What's Vick gonna do?! Is he gonna pluck up the courage and save the day, at the risk of Rae or Lock finding out? Or is he gonna hang back and risk his entire relationship with the team?  
  
Ahem...sorry, well I guess that is something to think about. I put this chapter in two parts, mainly because it's gonna be a hellova' fight, and because in my last story it was 15 pages, and couldn't fit in some of the '' so some people got confused. Oh well, until next time!  
  
Please review! :) 


	13. So close, yet so far Part 2

Fight for Freedom

(a/n) Hello there, I'm very sorry about the long wait, I've been on holiday for two weeks and moved house, so I haven't really had much time at the keyboard at the moment. But now that should all change; I've got lot's of free-time on my hands, and I'm gonna use it for my story. So, this chapter sees Vick making a very important choice, one that should reflect how the rest of the story goes! Thanks very much to Lacrease, Dynamis, Kawaiinekoofdoom, Miranon and the Almighty DB, you guys keep giving me the confidence I need to keep this story going. So read and find out what Vick is going to do! Only in 'Fight for Freedom'.

Read, review, and enjoy! :)

Chapter 13: So close, yet so far...Part 2

Malcolm disappeared from view over the top ramp. Vick stood there and watched, trying to ignore Gunther's constant shouting coming down his headset. Vick let out a big breath, everything ran through his mind at the same time, each thought just getting clogged inside his mind and then just left there, for more thoughts to come in and make the blockage even bigger.

'What if I don't go after him? What will they do with me? Kick me off the team? No, no they can't do that. But what if I can just tell them about my foot, then say I just got hit in the match? That should work, but Gunther's been with me all the time, he would have known if I had been hit and lived or not.' All this kept repeating in Vick's mind.

Vick was snapped back down to earth from an exceedingly loud order from Gunther. Vick was startled and made the split-second decision in his mind.

Malcolm was about 50 meters from the submarine, he was constantly checking behind him, making sure that nobody was following him. Malcolm turned his head back round to face where he was going, and was greeted by Lock's face about an inch away from his own.

Malcolm first instant reaction was to press as hard as he could on the trigger. Lock did the same, only he had a Link gun. Lock quickly realized it him who was the one who was going to lose this little confrontation.

Lock's torso was torn to shreds by Malcolm's point blank shot, what was left of the body flew backwards and smashed into the wall behind, Malcolm inspected the blood all over his flak cannon for a few seconds, the carried on.

Malcolm only had a slight wound from the link shot that Lock gave him in the stomach, it didn't affect his progress. But something else just did. A rocket exploded on the back of Malcolm's knee. Effectively ripping his right leg off, Malcolm was barely alive, blood leaking from his large wound, but his pains were short-lived, as another rocket flew in and hit him in the side, killing him and rolling him onto his front.

Vick stepped over the corpse and grabbed the flag, swapping his weapon for Malcolm's, and then limping back to base; grunting every time he took a step because of the ever increasing pain in his foot.

Rae and Amon passed Vick whilst he was on his way back to base to return the flag. Rae patted him on the shoulder whilst Amon whooped slightly: "Woo! Go Vick, didn't know what we'd do without ya'!" Vick smiled and carried on in his limp-jog style motion back towards base.

Gunther and John were even more pleased to see him. As Vick ran up the left ramp, John smiled and Gunther laughed. "My god! He actually did it! Good job buddy."

"Thanks" Vick replied and stuck the flag back in its post. John noticed the blood leaking violently from Vick's boot.

"You're foot ok man?" John asked curiously, while nodding at his foot. Gunther looked down at his foot as well.

"Yeah what is that? You got hit by Malcolm just then?" Gunther asked.

"Err...err... yeah, yeah. Just caught me I the foot before killed him. I'll be fine don't worry."

"You sure?"

"Yeah I'll be fine man, c'mon, let's concentrate on the match here." Vick said, and ended the conversation. John looked at Gunther and then at Vick, he thought he could hear foot steps, neither Vick nor Gunther were moving. It must have been something else.

But that didn't seem to be the case. Malcolm, Othello, Riker and Annika sprinted down the middle ramp, spraying bullets and flak everywhere.

A lucky shot caught Othello in the side of the head, he body collapsing and tumbling down the ramp. Gunther fired a well placed rocket into the crowd, killing Riker and severely wounding Annika, Riker's body falling off the side of the ramp and falling down with blood all over her chest and legs.

Malcolm had dodged the rocket and leapt forwards into Gunther knocking him back against the wall with his gun over his neck, Malcolm pushed Gunther's head to the left, and hit him in the side of the head with his minigun; blood seeping from his temple.

Vick was quick to get involved, jumping on Malcolm and throwing him off the side of the ramp and landing on top of him, Vick started to pummel Malcolm in the stomach. Gunther has quickly recovered and grabbed a minigun from one of the bodies looked down over the side of the ramp where Vick and Malcolm were.

Gunther pointed the gun down at the pair fighting. He was waiting for Vick to move so he could get a clear shot, and his prayers were answered. Malcolm threw Vick off him, his body was open to the barrels of Gunther's minigun. Malcolm lay flat on his back and looked up into Gunther's eyes, and then squinted as he pulled the trigger.

Bullets pounded their way through Malcolm's armour body, blood smearing the wall floor underneath him. Bullets were nearly hitting Vick too; the minigun was quite inaccurate when fired frantically for a certain period of time.

Malcolm was dead, Vick made his way up the ramp again to join the others. Vick nodded at Gunther. "Thanks man" Vick said. Gunther smiled and nodded back. Malcolm's glasses must have fallen off during the fight; they lay at John's feet, undamaged.

John chuckled and picked them up and put them on. Gunther and Vick saw what John was doing, Gunther laughed slightly, whilst all Vick could muster up was a slight twitch of the side of the mouth.

"How do I look?" John said in a cheesy, deep voice. Gunther laughed more, but Vick turned his attention to more defending. John laughed with Gunther, until a sniper rifle bullet tore through the side of John's head. His body dropping to the floor, and the sunglasses tumbling neatly off his head.

Gunther hit the deck and aimed his Rocket launcher down the left ramp, hoping to find the culprit of John's death. 30 seconds passed, there was nothing there. Gunther slowly stood up, still keeping a close eye on the ramp. "You ever see that movie 'Predator'?" Gunther asked Vick.

"No, can't say I have. Why?" Vick replied.

"I don't know, kinda feels like we're being watched by somebody y'know?"

"Yeah, well just ke-" Another bullet ripped through Vick's skull, killing him instantly. Gunther looked around quickly, looking for any tell-tale puffs of smoke coming from the barrel of a sniper rifle. Not a trace of anything.

Gunther glanced up the middle ramp and stumbled as he saw Aryss armed with a sniper rifle looking down on him. Then Malcolm attacked from the right side, Gunther turned to Malcolm to fire, but before he could pull the trigger, Gunther's head flew off his shoulders, whilst Malcolm effortlessly took the flag with Aryss covering him.

"Blue flag taken!" the announcer boomed into Lock's earpiece. He turned his head and look at Rae, she swore. Lock's body was pushed into the air by the jump-pad, Rae followed him. Malcolm leapt down from the submarine closely followed by Aryss.

Lock and Rae were quick to follow, firing off a few rounds just before they ducked around a corner, they were getting very close to their base now, and the outcome of the whole match could be decided by a few rounds fired at just the right split-second.

Aryss made a bold move and stayed by one corner to try and cover Malcolm by fending off Lock and Rae. It didn't work very well. She fired at Lock with her rifle and missed, allowing Rae to make a shock combo right next to her head, the explosion erupting throughout the corridor and the corner; knocking Malcolm to his knees momentarily.

He was soon back on his feet again, and Rae and Lock were gaining on him fast. Malcolm was constantly glancing behind him, checking for rockets flying in, or any figures chasing him. The flag was only about 50 meters away, he could easily sprint that far, he tried it.

Rae saw Malcolm flash around the corner, Rae smiled; she knew that he was out in the open for at least 5 seconds once he went round that corner. She lunged around the corner and shouldered her shock rifle and rested it on top of some boxes.

He wasn't anywhere to be seen, Lock came up close behind her. "Where'd he go?" he asked Rae panting.

"I dunno, he just disappeared." They both walked slowly down the corridor where Malcolm 'disappeared'. Malcolm was watching them, crouched down with his weapon perfectly aimed at the back of Lock's head.

Malcolm fired with the shock rifle, the beam of energy going off target but still killing Lock with a hit to the back. Malcolm sprinted behind Rae and headed for home. Rae wheeled around and fired sporadically as Malcolm ducked around the corner.

Malcolm ran up the ramp of his base, his knees slowly starting to weaken as he took the final steps. "Red teams scores!!!" the announcer boomed into everybody's earpiece. "Shit!" Rae shouted as she sprinted into the Red's base, hoping to catch them off guard.

It worked; Malcolm was just getting his breath back when Rae unloaded a hail of flak into his back, blowing him forwards, his face dragging along the floor. "Red flag taken!"

"Bring it on home Rae!" Lock shouted excitedly. He glanced back at Amon following him and smiled. Amon couldn't help but laugh.

Bullets chipped around Rae's heels, Othello and Aryss weren't letting Kill Switch take an easy flag. Bullets holes were being ripped in the flag with almost every step Rae took. Her eyes darting around the area for any extra cover or pick-ups that could be handy.

She spied some adrenaline behind some boxes; she checked her Adrenaline meter on her wrist-pad, it was 98. She giggled to herself and pounced on the pills as fast as she could. "Adrenaline!" the announcer shouted as Rae lunged herself forwards 4 times to active the combination.

"Speed!!" the announcer said again in the same tone of voice. "See ya' suckers!!" Rae hollered as she sped away from her pursuers. She ducked around the corner to the submarine area, she was practically home free. Othello fired the rest of his minigun ammo at her in a last ditch attempt.

One of the bullets chipped the handle of the flag, nearly knocking it out of Rae's hand; she fumbled with it, giving Malcolm just enough time to zero his sniper rifle.

John was tossed through the air by the jump-pad and was ordered by Lock to give Rae some cover. "I've got your back" John said to Rae as he fired down onto the ledge where Othello and Aryss were firing, he took Othello out with 10 high-explosive rounds in the chest, and Aryss ducked back around the corner to change weapons, she was only armed with her Assault rifle.

John didn't spot Malcolm hiding behind the pipe though. But the sudden tell-tale puff of smoke wasn't enough to stop him. John sharply turned to Rae; all he could do was watch the bullet rip through her chest and her body tumble in mid-air and splash off the side of the sub.

"Shit!" John said under his breath and ducked behind the hull of the sub. Malcolm rolled out to the right and fired another shot right where John was hiding. John knew he couldn't get him, so he focused on looking for the flag. He gasped when he saw the red flag sliding slowly off the side and heading for the water.

It was out in the open, he didn't know if he wanted to risk it and just be another target for Malcolm, or stay in and watch the point slip away. Another bullet 'dinged' off the hull, Malcolm could only fire one shot every couple of seconds, it was not a rapid fire weapon.

John waited for the second shot then leapt up and sprinted dived at the flag seconds before it was about to slip away. John grabbed it with both hands and attempted to jump off the side.

But Malcolm was with John the whole time. He fired another shot just at the right moment, it split right through John's left leg, throwing him off balance mid-air and making John fall on his knee and face on the solid metal floor with a 'crack'.

John let out a small cry of pain. The flag was still in his grasp, he squeezed it tight and raised his head to look around, and any team-mates would have been much appreciated. John's leg was quite bad, blood seeped out of the fresh wound.

John grunted as he tried to clamber up onto his feet, using the flag as support to help him. Then John realized it wouldn't be long until Malcolm was on him again and ready to kill him. Suddenly, a ray of hope emerged, Lock and Amon darted around the corner with their weapons blazing and suppressing the submarine.

They ran up to John's aid; Amon going down of one knee and aiming her Shock rifle just over the ridge of the sub. Lock helped John up by supporting his waist. John let out a quiet cry of pain again. Lock looked at the wound and looked concerned, John looked into Lock's eyes and raised both his eyebrows in a 'help me' gesture.

Amon started firing, launching a few shock beams followed by a devastating shock combo. They herd Malcolm's rifle clatter to the ground.

"That's it let's go!" Amon shouted and checked her ammo for her shock rifle.

"Amon, you cover us while John and I make our way back to the base." Lock ordered.

"Yes sir!" Amon replied and focused her attention back on the submarine.

Lock put his arm around John's shoulders and helped him limp off in a slow jog around the corner and into their base. Amon was firing an amazing amount of ammo at Thunder Crash, the occasional shock combo going off and creating a lot of damage.

She fired her last shot at Annika. She was out of ammo, the only other weapons she had was the Assault rifle. "I'm out!" she shouted and wheeled around to look at John and Lock's progress. She had to help get this point back to make the scores level. She whipped out her Assault rifle and launched all her grenades so they landed neatly by the corner to the submarine area.

Annika didn't notice the grenades until she almost had he foot buried in them, and the chain reaction effect didn't help her either, once one went off so did the whole pile, resulting in a big explosion and not much left of Annika. Amon laughed aloud as she watched the remaining pieces of Annika get scattered around the area.

The trio rounded another corner, making them ever safer from the dangerous Thunder Crash. Amon split from the group momentarily to collect some ammo for her shock rifle next to some boxes. The knelt down and grabbed the ammo and loaded it into her gun.

She stood back and was greeted by a rocket that went off right next to where she had just been kneeling. She was blown back slightly, and was about to return fire when a spiral of rockets ploughed their way through Amon's chest and stomach, killing her instantly.

Lock heard Amon's loud cry as her remains slammed violently into the floor. "Shit" Lock said turned his head back around to where they were facing. "Amon's down!" Lock shouted over the noise of another incoming rocket.

It exploded a couple of feet in front of Lock and John, knocking them both a little to the side. Lock tried to force John to go faster by pulling of his shoulders slightly, but the pain made John even slower. They were nearing the last corner they would have to go around for them to score, but John's effort was cut short by a distant shock beam from Tamika.

John collapsed next to Lock and dropped the flag, Lock swore again and grabbed the flag from John's body and sprinted through to where the blue flag was stationed. Gunther and Vick's conversation was rudely interrupted by Lock's desperate attempt to score. Vick and Gunther were quick to react, covering each exit with a second.

"Blue team scores!!!" The announcer screamed. "Oh yeah!" "Wahoo!" and other cheers came from Kill Switch's radio. The score was now 1-1, and both team had every chance to take the lead. The crowd's tension was released in a huge burst of cheers and excitement; even the commentator could barely be heard over the immense noise.

"Well fans, things are really hotting up now! Kill Switch pull one point back on Thunder Crash making the pressure on both side even greater!!!" the crowd made more noise. This match was far from over.

(a/n) Again I am dreadfully sorry for the long wait, and for making this part 2 of 3. But I can promise you this: the next chapter will be arriving by next week. If the chapter does not arrive by then, you have every right to stop reading this story and do something else. Anyway, on a higher note, it seems like Kill Switch could be in with a serious chance, with all members of the team pitching in. Hope you enjoyed it! Please review! :)


	14. So close, yet so far Part 3

Fight for Freedom

(a/n) Hello again, glad to see you liked the new chapters; this is the final part of this match for the CTF ladder. Can Kill Switch beat the almighty Thunder Crash? Will Vick eventually get caught? Find out in 'Fight for Freedom'.

I've also decided to make a proper little section to my reviewers who I can never thank enough.

**_Cursor: _**I agree, there were a few tactical faults when Kill Switch had the flag, but I mainly just write what pops into my head at the time, and then I use the excuse that they are in the heat of battle and they go with their instincts without really thinking. Heheh, and you'll find out Phoenix is (or isn't) up to in this chapter as well. And as for the failing to see Aryss part, that was either me making Thunder Crash a little too good, or me being crap, which ever suits it best. :) Enjoy.

**_Dynamis: _**I will make Kill Switch get pushed to their limits in this match, but even that can sometimes not be enough to beat a 'Godlike' team. Don't worry, you'll find out what happens in this one. Hope you enjoy it.

**_Baronic: _**Thanks for the review, again sorry I took so long to update. Your right, I did try to get a good mix of suspense and action in this one. I've put in two hand-to-hand fights that I'm quite proud of too. Hope you enjoy this one :)

Read, review and enjoy! :)

Chapter 14: So close, yet so far...Part 3

Lock panted as he joined Gunther and Vick in the defensive action. There were at least two more Thunder Crash members in their base, it took two to kill John, and as far as Lock could see no kills had been made since.

"Rae, Amon, go and clean out our base, I know there's two of the bastards left so watch out. John, help them out if you can."

lol.

"Amon's down! Follow me John!" Rae shouted in succession.

The radios were silent for a moment; Lock could hear the occasional gunshot ring out through some of the narrower corridors. He glanced at Gunther and Vick every few seconds, just to be safe.

"Double-kill!!" boomed the announcer. "Eat that!" followed shortly after.

"That's my girl!" Lock shouted and laughed. Gunther smiled. Vick rested his weight on his other foot, not realizing that he was leaning of his bad foot. He stumbled and fell on his backside. Quickly getting up and back to his position.

Lock and Gunther looked at each other. A wide grin spread across both of theirs faces; Vick knew they were trying not to laugh. Lock looked at Vick and noticed a slight red dampness on his boot, maybe it was the solution to his embarrassing fall.

"You're foot ok there Vick?" Lock asked. Vick looked up and tried to refrain from making eye contact with him.

"Yeah, yeah it's fine don't worry." Vick replied hurriedly.

"I asked if he wanted it checked out after that match but he said he didn't wanna." Gunther added.

"You sure you don't want it looked at? We don't wanna lose just because somebody didn't want a simple inspection, it'll be nothing don't worry about it." Lock said

"Aww, is our little Vicky-wicky afraid of the doctor?" Gunther said in a childish and patronizing voice. Lock couldn't help but laugh

"Ok fine! I'll take the stupid inspection! So will you guys shut-up now or what?!" Vick lashed back at them.

"Ok good, I'm gonna go try and nab' us another flag, keep up the good work here guys. You need any backup, because I can send John over here if you want. Just say." Lock winked at Gunther and ran off down the left ramp.

"No that's ok!" Gunther shouted his last words at Lock just before he disappeared around the corner.

Phoenix was watching the match from his usual chair frowning and covering his mouth with his hand. He was concentrating deeply on every single fighter in the current match, at the moment he was studying Gunther.

Gunther was a powerful and skilled player, he was vital to Kill Switch's defense operations, and on almost every single occasion when Gunther fell, the flag was taken. Rae was also a slight worry to him, her tactics and accuracy was another powerful asset for the team. Phoenix switched the screen to the next fighter: Malcolm, there was nothing to say about him. The most skilled and deadly man in the tournament, (well, Phoenix didn't think so), and given another shot at him it would be very likely that Malcolm would win.

It was rumoured that Malcolm was going to put in a request to challenge Phoenix in the coming weeks. If it was true then Phoenix would do everything in his power to stop the match taking place.

"Are you finished yet!?" Phoenix shouted and broke his and Erik's concentration. Phoenix had gotten Erik to work constantly at the broken machine ever since the small incident with the Liandri guards, Vick and himself.

Erik hadn't bothered asking Phoenix what had happened with the computer, he daren't ask questions or Phoenix could easily kill him right on the spot, so he reluctantly continued his work, sometimes deliberately going a bit slower than he should. Even Erik didn't like Phoenix messing around the matches.

Phoenix chain of thoughts was again broken by the announcer:

"Blue team takes the lead!!" he boomed. It was Amon who had scored this time; she whooped and laughed all the way from the Red base. She was extremely confident; she even took out 3 Thunder crash members on her way back. Phoenix raised his chin, finished off his drink of water and continued to watch the match.

Amon hopped down left ramp of the Blue base still ecstatic from her contribution. She was really ready to go and she wasn't going to let anybody get in her way. She passed John and he gave her a pat on the back and cheered her on as she rapidly over took him.

John had been ordered just to roam and kill any Thunder Crash team member he came across. Tamika raised her head out of the water and breathed in deeply, John saw her head come up and he quickly made himself scarce.

He poked his head out from behind the boxes, she was only sporting a Bio-rifle, and John had a shock rifle. A quick shock combo could easily finish her off. John took his chance. Tamika fully charged the gun full of the green, oozing waste to the brim. She heard footsteps behind her and swung herself around and released the toxic waste from her weapon.

At the same time John had fired a shock ball and he was heading right on target. John only had a split-second to react before the dangerous material reached his face. He was too late, the ball of goo burst on the side of John's head, knocking him back on one leg and he fired a shot at random.

The shock beam that John fired narrowly connected with the shock ball he fired earlier, and Tamika didn't realize she was going to get hit badly until it was right next to her. It reaction went off, and the large explosion tore Tamika's arms off at the elbow, and threw her across the corridor.

John was flat on his back with the extremely toxic waste burning away at his skull; he was clutching his face and screaming with his legs kicking around in the air. It was the most pain he had ever felt in his life. Unfortunately, Tamika didn't have much ammo, so there wasn't all the much sludge in the tank, but it was still enough to kill somebody with a head shot. John faded out and finally the screaming stopped. What a horrible way to die.

Tamika lived for a few seconds afterwards, crying out a few times when she realized the damage caused by the explosion which resulted in the loss of her arms. She died very soon after.

Rae took a deep breath and dipped her head under the water, it was surprisingly cold, but this wasn't supposed to be a swimming pool. Her light Shock Rifle didn't weigh her down much; she swam freely through the short tunnel that lead underneath the submarine. She brushed some tall pieces of foliage out her face as she entered the main underwater area.

She came up for the some air before she went back down again. She quickly looked around for any signs of action. It was mainly quiet, but suddenly, an explosion rang out as a rocket struck the cold and hollow side of the submarine. Amon didn't know who it was aimed at, but it soon became apparent when Lock, Rae, Riker and Aryss starting exchanging blows.

Amon was just about to dip her head under hopefully get by and into their base using this little incident as a distraction, when a small hand-to-hand fight started right in front her. Amon raised her weapon and was about to fire when Rae gave Aryss and sharp upper-cut with this side of her Shock Rifle and knocked her into the water right where Amon was.

Rae quickly looked down and nearly shot at Amon when she saw her in the water. "I got her!" Amon shouted up at Rae, she smiled and Rae turned to shoot at Riker. Amon dipped her head underwater and aimed her rifle and Aryss who was still recovering in the water from the blow.

She was about to fire when what looked like minigun bullets rained down on Amon and Aryss .Each bullet ripping through the water and leaving a trail of bubbles behind it. Amon raised her rifle above her head to try and protect herself from getting hit. One bullet reflected off the side of the weapon and pierced through the water and hit the submarine.

The bullets stopped coming in, and Aryss used the distraction to lunge at Amon. Amon hadn't lowered her gun in time to shoot before Aryss punched her in the stomach. She let go of the weapon and let it sink to the bottom.

Amon, now free of any weight restrictions, pulled down on Aryss' arms so her face was level with her waist. Amon pulled her leg through the water and kicked her hard in the chin twice. It was hard fighting in the water, everything was a lot slower, but you moved slower as well, so nobody had a real advantage. It was also nearly nigh-on impossible to deliver an exceptionally hard blow without using up a lot of energy.

But both girls did all that was in their power to really hurt each other. Amon still had a grasp on Aryss' arm; she pulled up to her own eye level, the let go and hit her as hard as she could in the jaw. Aryss was pushed up slightly by the blow, but retaliated strongly as she dunked Amon's head further into the water and brought her foot up to where her hands were, which were on top of Amon's head, and consequently, kicked her in the neck and jaw.

Aryss pushed up and took in some air quickly before going back down again. Only to be greeted by a straight punch in the nose from Amon. Blood leaked out and dispersed into the water. Aryss lowered her head back down again and received another blow of the same nature.

Amon used the brief moment to grab some air as well. She managed to take in one full breath before both her legs were pulled together and then tugged underwater, Amon only just managing to get a breath before being dragged back under.

Aryss gave her a pummeling in the stomach for a good 5 seconds, but from this she also lost a lot of energy. Amon took a few seconds to recover and pushed herself through the water towards Aryss.

She grabbed her by the waist and dragged Aryss down even deeper into the water. Bubbles flushed out of Amon's nose as she let go of Aryss' waist and kicked her in the side. Aryss keeled over to the right slightly, Amon went for another kick to the side. Aryss caught her foot.

Amon kicked and tugged her foot around in Aryss' grasp; she had her foot tightly held. Suddenly, Aryss pulled hard on Amon's foot and dragged her through the water towards her, she held her arm out straight and she had a firmly made fist on the end of it.

It happened so fast that all Amon could do was get a solid blow in the chin, she was pushed back again, and then pulled back into her fist. Blood floated out of the side of Amon's mouth with each blow. Aryss went for one last punch when Amon quickly grabbed hold of Aryss' punching arm at the elbow and locked it with both her arms fixed around it.

Now Amon had the upper hand, Amon managed to swing the leg that Aryss was holding back towards her, effectively making Aryss punch herself in the temple. She let go of Amon's foot and Amon instantly pushed her foot through the water and pulled Aryss' arm back at the same time.

Aryss received three solid and flat boots in the face, more blood leaked out slowly out of Aryss' nose and mouth, Amon wiped some of the blood of her own face in the very short moment of calmness. Aryss was already back on the offensive, she grabbed a hold of Amon's shoulders and spun herself around she was horizontal in the water and used Amon's face to push off and into the water, using both her sharp heeled boots on Amon's face.

Amon spluttered and coughed up blood. She really felt that one and it hurt a lot. She clutched her face and wiped off whatever she could of the blood that was yet to disperse in the water. Amon's gritted her teeth and her eyes turned into mere slits of her face.

She lunged at Aryss angry and as confident as ever. She went for a kick to the side, but Aryss caught it again in her firm grip. "Not this time bitch!" Amon shouted into the water, Aryss couldn't hear what she said but it was rather self explanatory when Amon spun herself around on her locked foot and heeled Aryss right in the temple.

Aryss let go of her foot once more and Amon finally went for her throat. Aryss was very shaken up from the blow and wasn't expecting another attack directly afterwards. Amon got a very firm grasp around her throat and squeezed tightly, air bubbles pouring out of Aryss' mouth at an alarming rate.

Amazingly, Aryss got the strength to give Amon to solid kick to the side and then pushed her away. Amon got a firm shove back in the water. She looked right into the eyes of Aryss and lunged yet again.

This time, Aryss didn't react; she just took blow after blow from Amon. 'Why isn't she reacting!?' Amon asked herself in her mind. Suddenly she realized when she had to pull Aryss' body down to stop it floating. She had drowned, and then, Amon felt the sharp and agonizing burning pain in her chest, she desperately needed air. She used all the energy she had left to power her way to the surface, barely making it.

She breathed in heavily and spluttered out some water and coughed un-controllably. She gained the strength and swam the short distance to the side near the red team's base. There was a gentle ramp leading out of the water, Amon hauled her upper body onto it still panting and coughing with her bottom half still in the water.

She looked over her shoulder and watched Aryss' body float to the top. There small conflict on the submarine was still going. Riker was out numbered, but he had hit Rae in side of the head with his Assault rifle, not a very powerful weapon, but it did some damage.

Rae stumbled and felt dizzy from the blows to the head; she was firing very inaccurately, Riker was in barely any danger of getting hit by her. Lock's Shock rifle clicked and ran out of ammo, he threw it off the side and whipped out his Assault rifle and fired a well placed grenade.

Riker made a last ditch attempt and abandoned his cover and charged at Lock with his Shield gun fully charged. Luckily, he didn't see the primed grenade by his foot; Riker was blown side-ways and did a front-flip and landed on his back looking up at Lock.

Lock aimed his gun at Riker's head, Riker let out a groan as blood spilled out from his leg. Lock fired and decorated the submarine with a nice new colour, red. He ran over to Rae, she was still disorientated. Lock ran up to her side, she just collapsed off the side of the submarine. Lock decided to leave her; she would have just slowed him down.

"Blue flag taken!!" the announcer boomed, taking Lock and the rest of Kill Switch by surprise.

"I'm hit, I'm hit! Watch out Vick, over there!" 'Bang' "Arrgh!!" Gunther shouted down his radio (well he obviously didn't say 'bang', because that would be silly :p). Lock checked his wrist pad. It was Malcolm again who had taken the flag.

The flak ball exploded on the back of Malcolm's head, the explosion tearing his diaphragm apart and skimming his body along the floor. Riker quickly picked up the flag and started side-stepping and firing at Vick who fired the flak ball.

Riker unleashed a rocket and it plunged into Vick's stomach, killing him and throwing him back a few meters. Tamika covered Riker's escape by laying a minefield of the toxic blobs (it's really hard to write about what the Bio-rifle spits out whilst taking it seriously); Gunther was quickly back in the game and was pursuing the two Thunder Crash escapees.

He rounded the corner and saw the green minefield about one meter in front of him; he simply jumped and pushed himself off the opposite wall and over it. There was one more corner to go before the submarine area; if they got past there they could be scot-free.

Gunther caught a glimpse of the pair rounding the corner into the middle. Gunther rolled out from safety and fired a trio of rockets in their direction. Two of the rockets hit the ground about a foot behind Tamika, knocking her to floor, and the third one sailed over Tamika and straight past Riker's face, not doing him any damage.

Gunther fired another shot at Tamika as she was just getting up, he hit her square in the back, killing her and making her drop her Flak cannon. Riker managed to escape into the middle with the flag, Gunther sprinted in after him.

Riker was launched forwards by the jump-pad and onto the submarine. Gunther fired at him with his new Flak cannon, all of the shards missed him as he ran even faster and found some cover behind the sub.

Gunther swore, he couldn't let him get away. "Red flag taken!!" the announcer stated loudly. "What the-?" Gunther said as he was pushed off by the jump-pad. Lock had taken it this time, hitting the Thunder Crash team where it didn't expect it.

"I need backup!" Lock shouted as gunfire instantly shook his microphone.

"I'll be right there!" Gunther and Rae said simultaneously.

Gunther watched as Riker jumped onto dry land and headed for home base. Gunther fired a flak ball in hope to catch him out with a long range attack. The ball was only slightly misjudged, landing just behind the corner that Riker had just gone around.

The shards bounced around him, one minor fragment clipping him in the foot but not really impeding his progress. Gunther leapt down onto the same level as Riker and fired three more time sat him; Riker was nearly rounding the next corner, so again his shots were ineffective.

Lock rolled to his right and fired the last shot in his Shock rifle. The beam went up and through Othello's chin, he fell the floor in a bloody mess. Lock he dropped his empty rifle and picked up Othello's assault rifle. He rested one firmly in each shoulder and clipped the flag to his belt.

He heard more gunfire coming from his right; he went down on one knee and aimed both his rifles at the corner. Riker lunged up the stairs and appeared in Lock sights clearly; Lock fired at him and tore holes in the Blue flag and chipped at Riker's shins with his rather low caliber bullets.

Suddenly, Riker wheeled around the face Gunther who was also firing at him with an Assault rifle. His minigun easily over powered Gunther and knocked him back down the small flight of stairs he was ascending. A few more shots and Gunther was killed.

Riker paused for a brief moment to check that Gunther was dead and to drop his minigun. Lock took his chance and aimed for the head, his opened fire and it was only a few seconds before the gun in his left hand stopped firing.

Lock stood up on both feet and fried what was left in his weapon at his target. Riker turned to face him and ducked behind some cover. Neither of them had suitable weapons left part from the Shield gun, but when they both had each others flags; then it could be too risky. Lock hadn't been known for his Shield gun skills in the past, in one match lock deiced to get someone with a Shield gun when all he had left was a Shield gun. Lock charged it up and ran at his victim, Outlaw (the victim) only had an Assault rifle, but saw Lock running towards him and simply spun and kicked the gun out his hands and then put a few rounds in his face. Lock wasn't good at CQB (Close-Quarter-Battle).

Lock was the only thing stopping Riker from getting back to base. "I need some backup!" Lock shouted into his headset again. Riker heard every word, he had the advantage, he was in his own spawn point, and back up was very likely to come at any time. Lock however, was about as far away from his own base as possible.

Riker saw his chance when lock shouted down the radio; he came out from behind his cover and used the flag as a weapon. Lock turned around to see Riker charging with the spiked end of the flag coming in his direction.

Lock put the flag horizontally over his head as a barrier, Riker swung and smashed the hard metal pole into Lock's one. Riker pulled his flag above his head and faked that he was going to make another strike of the same nature.

He swung high and Lock braced himself for another blow, but quickly, Riker pulled his flag back towards him and stabbed at Lock's torso. Lock just managed to bring his flag down to his waist and knock the it away; he quickly used the small opening to get an attack on Riker.

Lock also stood up from behind his cover and stabbed at Riker suing the flag's spiked end. Riker wasn't prepared for this attack and was forced to take a step backward as to not get hit. Now that Lock was backing up, it was clearly his turn to go on the offensive. He swung the flag around his head and brought it down and into the side of Riker's knee.

It made him dip to the left slightly; Lock hit the other knee in the same place. Then he put the flag horizontally again and pushed into Riker's chest in an attempt to knock him to the floor. Riker leaned forwards slightly and braced himself split-seconds before Lock pushed him.

Lock took a step back as he expected him to fall over, but was surprised when Riker managed to quickly hit Lock square in the side of the head with the sharp end of the flag. Lock stumbled back and nearly fell over if he hadn't managed to support himself on a nearby box.

Riker stabbed at him again, giving him no room to even breathe. Lock spun to his right as the spike lodged itself in the box that Lock had been on moment before. Riker pulled on the flag, it was firmly stuck; Lock saw his chance and hit Riker square in the head with the side of his flag.

Riker fell forwards and nearly impaled himself on the flag that was embedded in the box. Lock swung again and hit Riker in the chest, he went back for another blow, but riker brought his leg up and kicked it out of Lock's hands and quickly pulled the flag out of the box using the support of his shoulders.

Riker used the spiked end of the flag and pushed forward at Lock's knee, he only managed the scrape Lock's kneecap but it was enough to nearly knock him off his feet. Lock stumbled forwards and quickly bent down and grabbed the flag in the same motion.

Lock turned around to face Riker, but before he could even make eye contact with him, Riker had swiped Lock's legs out using the flag. Riker stood over him and raised the flag so the spike was pointing at his face.

Lock saw a small hope just before Riker was about to stab him. Lock kicked him in the side of the leg and made him stumbled and slip the flag, he missed Lock's face, but got a firm stab in his side.

Lock cried out as a burst of pain shot through his whole body. Riker violently ripped out the flag from his side, putting Lock in even more pain. A surge of blood came out from Lock's open wound; he clutched it with both hands and arced his body over slightly to try and ease it.

Riker went in for another brutal stab; Lock looked up in despair as he saw Riker smile as he brought down the sharp end. Lock squeezed his eyes tight shut as he saw Riker go for the final blow.

'Crack!!!" the familiar piercing sound of a sniper rifle rang in Lock's ears. He heard something grunted and then slump to the floor; he opened his eyes cautiously and saw Riker's dead body in front of him.

Lock looked to his right and saw Amon poised and looking down the scope of her sniper rifle. She winked at him and rushed up to his side, keeping a close eye on the exit to their left.

"Man, that could have been nasty." Amon said as she took both flags and strapped them to her back. "Good job I showed p when I did huh?" Amon smiled and breathed out as she stood up. "You need a hand?" Amon asked and reached out her hand to Lock.

"No, no, just....go on...with-without me. C'mon go!" Lock stuttered as more blood spilt out his wound.

Amon nodded and started to take slow steps backwards before wheeling around and going into a full sprint. As soon as Amon disappeared from view, bullets from a minigun careered into Lock's chest and head, spraying the wall behind him in red.

Amon heard the bullets hit the wall as she attempted to hop over the small flight over stairs, but suddenly, a Shock rifle beam smacked into the back of her head, killing her instantly and crumpling her body as she hit the floor at the foot of the steps.

Gunther was rushing up to support the situation like Lock had order him to earlier. He approached the corner and saw Amon's body land in a crumpled heap meters way from him, and most importantly, dropping both the flags.

Gunther poked his head around the corner to see where the fire had come from. He spotted Tamika aiming with her Shock rifle just on the corner, a beam suddenly smashed into the wall right next to Gunther's head, it didn't cause him any damage however.

Gunther used some age old tactics to try and grab both the flags. He selected his Link gun and dived out from safety, firing shots in the general direction of Tamika. She ducked back behind a box nearly taking a direct hit in the face. Gunther used his free hand to grab both flags before ducking back around the corner and making dash for home.

Tamika abandoned her cover and sprinted after Gunther in hope of catching both flags. Gunther had nearly made it to the submarine area already. He dumped his Link gun behind some boxes and pulled out his Assault rifle so he could ran that extra but faster.

John jumped up onto the submarine when he heard the action. His orders were to roam around so he had the ability to do as he pleases. Gunther was thrust onto to the sub by the nearby jump pad up to greet John. But even before he had a chance to open his mouth and say anything, the familiar noise of the sniper rifle struck again and Gunther's right leg was swiped out in midair, throwing him off balance and making him land flat on his back and then slowly slipping off the edge of the submarine.

The flags were still connected to his back, and therefore didn't instantly become reset when they hit the water for a few seconds. Another bullet deflected off the hull, John looked down and saw Gunther scrambling for air as he was still alive. John looked away and closed his eyes, he couldn't watch Gunther like that, he opened his eyes and looked down at the water. Gunther's body was floating on the top; it would only be second until the flags were reset. John crouched, leant forwards and jumped off the side.

John splashed into the water and instantly powered himself to the bottom. He felt the pressure make his ears pop as he neared the floor. He up-righted himself in the water and grasped a flag in each hand. John touched him feet on the bottom, then pushed up towards the surface.

John emerged on the surface caught his breath back. He looked up and realized that he wouldn't be able to get up onto his side without going through the under water tunnel. The level above his head was at least 2 meters above him. John dunked his head back underwater and headed for the tunnel; both of the flag weighed him down slightly, but didn't make a huge impact on how fast he could swim.

John brushed the few pieces of foliage that decorated the tunnel exterior aside. John had always been a good swimmier in school; he remembered the day he got his 2000 meters badge at his primary school. He reached the end of the tunnel and surfaced; breathing in heavily.

Instantly, bullets riddled the water around him, the water was being chipped up and some bullet hitting the wall behind him. John quickly hauled himself out of the water and made a dash for home.

As he ran past large opening that lead to the submarine, John looked to his right and saw Malcolm on top of the submarine taking pot shots are him with his sniper rifle. John knew that Malcolm was one of the most deadliest shot with a sniper rifle in the entire tournament.

Every time he heard him fire, John winced, if he stayed out in the open for over 5 seconds, he would be dead. John made a small leap to cover from Malcolm's rifle around the corner.

Vick and Amon fired a flak ball each directly at Othello. One missed him and the other the other hit him directly in the mouth, savagely tearing his head and torso apart and throwing it back down the ramp.

Thunder Crash were now making every attempt to get to the Kill Switch base and stop the flag carrier as he came into his own base thinking he was home free. Vick and Amon were doing everything in their power to the Thunder Crash attack.

"We need some back-up here!!" Amon shouted down her headset. "Now! We can't hold them for much longer if this keeps up!"

Amon fired another flak ball down the ramp at Annika, she dodged it and lunged forwards at Vick and fired with her own Flak cannon at the same time, sending fragments of hot metal everywhere. Vick collapsed on the floor and Amon rolled to her left and fired, killing Annika.

John was within ear-shot of the action at their base now, he had head Amon's cry for help earlier and made his legs go even faster than they already were. He had just one more corner to go before he made it. A shock beam hit John in the back of the foot; tripping him and making him land of his backside. More shots kept coming in; John trued to ignore the pain and limped towards the ramp that was mere steps away.

Amon saw John coming towards her with the flag and quickly looked around for any other Thunder Crash members, she turned to face john when suddenly, a flak ball hurdled over the middle ramp and hit her square in the side of the head, killing her and sending her body smashing into the wall. John really pushed himself up the last few steps, he dropped his Assault rifle and took both the flags, one in each hand, he pushed in his own flag to return it and then he put the Red flag in to score, split-seconds before he was about to take the last step and score, another flak ball came flying form over the middle ramp.

John watched as it sailed towards him, if it hit him he would certainly be dead, he quickly turned his head back to face the flag and he pushed it in, and at exactly the same time, the ball exploded on the back of John's head, killing him.

It was all quiet, John's heart was pounding, and it was all he could hear. Suddenly, the blackness turned to dazzling light; he was back in the arena.

"Oh my goodness ladies and gentlemen!!!! Did you see that?!!" the commentator screamed. "What an absolute turn up for the books that was!!! Kill Switch the total under dogs of this match, coming out to completely dominate the match! This will go down in history I can assure you!!"

Only when the commentator stopped talking for a moment did john and the rest of the team realize just how deafening the noise of the crowd was. Amon's mouth slowly got wider and wider as they al realized just who had won the match. Amon and Rae screamed with excitement and hugged each other. Lock slapped John hard on the back.

"Oh my god! You did it kid! You did it! You just won the match!!" Lock laughed uncontrollably and turned to Gunther and congratulated him as well. John was speechless; he looked out in the crowd and read all the banners. 'CTF Champs!' 'We Love KILL SWITCH!' some of them read. It was amazing.

Vick was hardly smiling as usual; he was more worried about the inspection that he hoped Lock would forget about. He looked over to Lock, he hugged and kissed Rae.

Lock turned to face Vick, he smiled at him, but as usual Vick didn't smile back. Lock lost his smile and looked down at Vick's foot again. Vick tried to hide it by placing it behind his other foot.

Lock couldn't be heard over the immense noise from the crowd, he made a hand signal to one of the paramedics on standby. He picked up his case and headed over to Vick. Lock pointed at Vick's foot and the paramedic nodded and opened his case.

"I'm gonna have to ask you to take your boot of please sir!" the medic had to shout loudly over the crowd. Vick sighed angrily and reluctantly lifted off his boot.

(a/n) So, there you go, Kill Switch, the new CTF champions! But what will happen with Vick's medical inspection? I hope you enjoyed this match. I enjoyed the two fights in this one the most. I hope most people liked all of it though. See ya next time! :) Please review!


	15. Last Chance

**Fight for Freedom**

(a/n) Hello! Yes I am alive it is true! Damn GCSEs and coursework are slowly starting to pile up on me :( but I've been trying to get this story out for a while. Thanks to all my reviewers who obviously reviewed my story and gave me confidence once more! Anyways, no fighting in this one however, more of an advance in the story, it was quite tough making this decision, seeing as no matter which way I went the story would be drastically affected. But I hope what I agreed with you like so without further a due, I give you:

Chapter 15: Last chance

(Read and enjoy)

"I'm gonna have to ask you to take your boot of please sir!" the medic had to shout loudly over the crowd. Vick sighed angrily and reluctantly lifted off his boot.

Vick winced as the boot slipped off the end of his toes and into the medics hands; he put the red dampened boot to one side. The medic inspected Vick's foot closely.

"When did you pick up this wound!" he shouted again to be heard.

"During the match I told you!" Vick replied, he hadn't told the medic anything actually, but he liked to think he did.

"But this wound looks like it's at least a day old!" he said and looked up at Vick with a curious expression on his face. Vick was about to reply when Lock butted in after what he had just heard the medic say.

"Over a day old? That can't be, he obviously picked it up in the match!" Lock said firmly at the medic. He just shook his head in reply.

"No, no, you can see the blood clotting there, a scab has already started slightly, and besides, if he got it in the match, this small wound would have been fixed when he re-spawned. The only way for it to stay there was if it was inflicted before the match took place!" He looked back at the wound and touched it with his fingertips. Vick winced again and withdrew his foot from the medic's grasp.

"That's a good point actually. You absolutely sure this wasn't before the match Vick?" Lock asked, somewhat concerned now.

Vick was struggling for words, he tried not to make eye contact with Lock and the medic but it was next to impossible. 'What would happen if I told him the truth? Would they kick me off? But I'm a good member of this team, but what about getting around me-'

"-with Phoenix." Vick had accidentally trailed off from his thoughts and spoke a few words from his mind.

"With who?" Lock asked curiously, Vick could tell he had just basically blown it.

Vick lowered his head to the floor, he felt Lock's eyes burning through to the top of his head and looking into him, he knew it was a lie. Vick needed a lie quick; he was running out of time. Was their any point? Would Lock find out anyway? What would happen if he did? In a split second thought which he didn't even consider, Vick blurted out:

"Phoenix was the one who hit me in the foot!" he didn't even really think about where what he just said would lead, no doubt Lock would tell everybody else in the team and they would certainly bring up points that Vick couldn't answer without telling the truth, it was unbearable.

John glanced back to where Vick, the medic and Lock were standing. Lock looked very concerned with something, John took a step towards the trio but had his attention grabbed by an exceptionally loud scream from a girl in the corner of his eye. "Viper!" she screamed. John smiled and winked at the girl as she gasped and put her hands over her chest whilst most of her friends clapped and laughed in amazement.

Even though Thunder Crash had lost that match and their CTF trophy with it. They seemed to have no problem in taking it though, they were lapping up most of the crowd's cheers and hollers, and Malcolm was receiving most of the praise obviously.

John smiled as he watched Malcolm and Tamika pose for a photo from one of the members of the crowd. It also seemed that hundreds of newspaper reporters were there taking photos and making their money. Something else caught John's attention again, and Rae's, Gunther's and Amon's attention too.

"You were with Phoenix during the monthly Free-for-all?" Lock screamed. Most of the crowd went silent and some small hovering TV cameras focused in on the action. Vick had nothing to say, nor did Lock. The paramedic seemed to be backing away slowly, embarrassed by the incident that had made about 90 of the crowd fall deadly silent.

The rest of the team walked slowly towards Lock and Vick, and the Thunder Crash team had turned their attention over from the cameras to the shouting.

"You mean you were just 'hanging around' with Phoenix, and you wonder why you got shot in the foot! You do know how many enemies Phoenix has don't you! It's no god-damned wonder you got hit! You fucking deserve it!" Locks' voice hit an almost frightening climax as he finished off his final sentence before turning away and storming back towards the lift that would take them back to their cells, ignoring the unbearable embarrassment. Everything was still silent; you could hear a pin drop for miles around.

Gunther raised both his eyebrows at the paramedic who shrugged and started walking away from the arena center. Gunther turned to John and Amon; Rae had gone off after Lock down the lift.

Gunther stammered for what to say next. He tried smiling at the crowd to pretend that nothing had happened. Thunder Crash and Kill Switch both trudged back to their lifts ignoring the silence and trying to focus on what Lock was going to do.

All eyes were now on Vick, it was hard not to hear what Lock was screaming about anyway. He slowly got to his feet, ignoring the pain once more. The staring eyes of the spectators burned a hole through him, he daren't look up to face them, he kept his head low and trudged back towards the lift with John and Gunther following behind him.

As the lift went down the crowd started to liven back up again and was once again live with conversation, mainly people from the press who commented on each match for a specific team. There was a huge amount of tension in the lift, John cleared his throat and both Gunther and Vick quickly snapped their heads up to look at him as if he was making a gesture towards them.

They reached the bottom and Vick rushed off hurriedly to get away from the two. John looked at Vick's blood drenched boot that he limped on on each step. Gunther glanced at John and patted him on the back.

"Nice job there man, you bagged us a trophy!" he chuckled and walked off ahead to his own cell. John smiled and walked back to his own cell, passing Lock's one on his way, he had his head in his hands and clearly didn't wanted to be disturbed. John pondered over what Lock was actually going to do with Vick now that his secret had been unveiled to just about everybody with a TV. Whether he would kick him off the team, or just keep him on a very tight shift when they weren't fighting. It would all unravel for him John thought.

Phoenix chuckled to himself whilst he sat in the grand chair in front of the computers. The main system was still pretty much irreplaceable, but that didn't seem to occur to Phoenix, he was still forcing Erik to work on it day and night to get it working again so Phoenix could start to interfere with everything again.

He had disposed of the bodies of the Liandri guards without any hassle; the 'incident' was cured with a quick bribe of a guard who helped them to clear up. Erik stated that he had managed to 're-route the module leading into a hacking device of the Unreal matrix'. None of this really meant anything to Phoenix; he just wanted to get Erik to finish it for him while he pondered about how to next interfere.

Rae sat down next to Lock, still with his head in his hands. He let out a long breath as Rae reached her arm over his back and patted him. Lock looked up and into her eyes and opened his mouth as if to say something but nothing came out. Rae knew what he was really going to say anyway. Lock stood up sharply in a violent rage.

"I can't believe it! I just……what kind of idiot would wanna do such a thing! It makes no god-damn sense for Christ's sake!" He turned to the wall and leant against it shaking his head. Rae sat back and kept her head down like a small child who was the real culprit, avoiding eye contact to not be involved.

Lock spun around to face Rae again. Again he opened his mouth to say something but he quickly changed his mind and turned back to the wall. Silence followed without much haste. Each kept their thoughts to themselves, especially Rae, she knew Lock when he was angry, but she'd never seen him like this, it had really startled her.

"Well… what are you gonna do about it? I mean if-˝

"-I don't know! What the hell do think we should do! It's not like Vick even god-damned cared in the first place is it?" Lock loudly interrupted.

"Hey don't take this out on me!" Rae countered sharply. She stood up and brought herself to Lock's eye level. He stared back into her eyes with a furrowed brow. Lock turned on his heels sharply and left the room leaving Rae standing in the center. She let out a sigh. "Jesus Christ Vick, you've really done it now".

"Don't you think I'm aware of that?" Vick said as he emerged around the corner to the cell. Rae didn't answer; she just stared back at him. She wasn't as angry as Lock, but she was still pretty annoyed. Vick took a step closer, he looked at her in a way that he never really had before, like she was some kind of traitor. This however wasn't the case at all, and it wasn't long before somebody had to say something before Rae would start to feel quite threatened.

"Why Vick? Why?" Rae said calmly as he took another step towards her. He didn't reply, he just kept the same stare at her every step he took forwards. Rae was actually starting to get nervous now, still Vick didn't reply, he was now merely a few steps away from her.

Vick raised his right arm up towards Rae's face. Rae quickly batted it away with her hand and looked down on the floor as if she already knew that she had annoyed him.

"What the hell are you doing!" Lock's voice echoed piercingly around the room. Vick wheeled around and tried to act as if nothing had happened. Rae still didn't say anything, she looked very relieved after his appearance, but she still refrained from speaking.

"Well? What the hell were you doing? You've already pushed your luck enough don't you think?"

"Maybe if you weren't on my back all the goddamn time, maybe I could tell you sometimes!"

"Don't you shout at me! If it weren't for you none of us would be in this godamn mess in the first place!" Lock raised his voice a lot.

Vick smiled, he seemed to find it rather amusing when he got Lock especially angry. He quickly snapped away his smile before Lock made another comment. Nothing was said for a few seconds, all eyes in the room were on Vick, he stood there, emotionless as usual.

Lock couldn't just walk away without saying something; he wasn't that kind of person. He took a few steps in Vick's direction, he came right up to Vick's face, breathing quite heavily.

"You, are on a fucking thread you are. And if I get even the slightest kind of incident again you are gonna be outta here so godamn quick it'll feel like somebody shoved a rocket up your ass." Lock said through gritted teeth. "One more chance, and that's it, your gone. Now get the hell out of here."

Vick pushed Lock in the chest slightly to get him out of the way. Lock swatted the arm away, like Rae did, and pushed it back towards him. "Jackass" he mumbled quietly. Vick heard what he said, they both knew it. The tension within the team would now be unbearable when they were fighting and even when they were not.

(a/n) Sorry for the short chapter, it was mainly an advance on the story than anything else. I hope you liked it, again I would like to apologize for the lateness of the chapter, and I assure you, that the next update will be along by the end of the week. If it does not, you can personally come round my house and shoot me in the groin with a tazer gun. :)

P.S It would be great to get some reviews from the original supporters e.g. Dynamis, Cursor, Lacrease and Miranon.


	16. Maybejust maybe

**Fight for Freedom **

(a/n) Hello there, seeing as I finally got the last chapter up; I'm trying to keep going with it every week. This match will finally see an Assault game type, seeing as Kill Switch won the CTF trophy they are now able to get into the Assault cup, but that's not saying other legendary teams will be in there as well, just because Thunder Crash lost the CTF cup doesn't mean they aren't top of the Assault ladder too (hint hint). Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one, as I'm writing this I'm getting really excited already. I got lots of ideas floating around in my head. However, no combat in this one, but this chapter will be yet again another advance in the story and will set me up perfectly for the huge fight coming in the next chapter!

**_Dynamis: _**Great to hear from you buddy! Glad I managed to get at least one of the original guys back :). Thanks for the review. Yes, there definitely will be some friction in this chapter between Lock and Vick, but just how far will they go?

Read, review and enjoy :)

Chapter 16: Maybe...just maybe

Gunther and Amon were in John's cell all night just talking about things that had gone on in their lives. It was quite an odd occasion, the longest all three of them had spent together was in matches, and even then they would be coming and going all the time.

"What time is it?" Gunther asked pointing to his wrist. Amon shrugged and looked back at him. For once during the time spent together, silence drifted around the cell. John cleared his throat; somehow Gunther recognized it as a cue to speak.

"Man, I wonder what's gonna happen with Lock and Vick after yesterday" John said quietly whilst leaning back on the wall.

"Beats me, it wouldn't surprise me if we didn't even see Vick today in the match" Amon replied.

"There's a match today! Aww crap, I'm aching all over from the capture the flag. I gotta hand it to those guys though, they sure are tough." Gunther scoffed. "Sometimes I wonder how the hell we beat them"

"Amen" Amon chuckled. All three of them smiled. The TV in John's cell fizzed and produced a picture. 'Liandri News' it read on the screen. Gunther and Amon looked at each other and laughed. John looked puzzled and continued to watch, he still couldn't figure out what they were laughing at. They both broke John's concentration:

"I wonder what bullshit they have got for us this time" Gunther said. "What's the bet it's gonna be about us after the match yesterday" Amon stated whilst still laughing.

"It that what you two were laughing at?" John asked. "No don't worry, it's not that, we just…lets just say the team has been on this show, err, I mean 'programme' before." Gunther started laughing again as he said this.

"What for?" John said as he chuckled himself. He didn't get answer, all of them just watched eagerly to see if their own little incident would appear on the small news programme.

"Today, our main headlines within the tournament are: 'Kill Switch, the team that could fall apart from the inside, we have an exclusive interview with the leader of the team' the TV announcer said. It then babbled on about many other things to do with the tournament, but nobody was listening to it anymore.

"An interview with Lock? No way!" Gunther said when he had finally stopped laughing.

For a second it looked as if Amon was worried, if a proper interview with Lock was released, they could barely joke about it anymore. Most people actually within the tournament would pay more attention too, instead of stupid tabloid stories invented by journalists short of cash. It was likely that other teams could play off their dislike for each other and really capitalize.

All three of them waited in suspense for what they thought would be Lock's voice. Gunther held his breath just as the reporter on the TV said:

"And now to the captain of the team, Lock." The screen blanked out and a picture of the Kill Switch logo appeared. The picture stayed there whilst a voice was heard and Gunther, Amon and John let out a long breath.

It was nothing like Lock's voice. The group started to snigger, and then laugh out loud.

"See what I mean?" Gunther almost struggled to say over the laughter. John did get it this time, however, he didn't seem to find it as funny as Gunther and Amon did. The merely chuckled to himself and watched as the other two wet themselves laughing. It had only until now really occurred to John just how big and public the whole event was, and how all this fighting, killing and deceit was all just part of one big game controlled by super commercial powers.

John sighed and looked back at the screen. It was still the logo, the 'Lock' that was talking about how ashamed and embarrassed he was, and how he hated the fact of having another atrocious thing pinned on them again.

'Atrocious things?' John thought to himself. 'Is that what Gunther was talking about earlier?' So many questions filled John's mind at this point. 'But surely if they both say that it's all a lie then why am I worried? But could they be the liars themselves? No, that's stupid John shut up, don't go and get paranoid about everything.' John looked back up at the TV again. The fake voice continued:

"Of course this event is in no way linked to the other previous…ahem…incidents there have been in the past, and I assure you that nothing like this will happen again under the watch on the Liandri Corporation." It was easy to tell that they voice was fake, it kept mentioning things about Liandri, and anybody who knew Lock knew that he was one of the thousands who could not stand Liandri. The interview carried on and broke John's chain of thoughts.

"So you're saying the mass shootings outside of the tournament are not related to this incident at all?" the interviewer asked. "No not at all in any way, shape or form." The interview ended, and more news carried on with a droid and a human with a robotic arm sitting behind a desk tidying up their papers and pretending to laugh at one another comments on the situation.

Gunther and Amon had finally cleared up when John looked up from the floor. He smiled and looked at them, they both had tears in their eyes and were clutching their stomachs in pain. They looked at John, with a smile still in their eyes.

"You ok John?" Gunther asked as his face changed from a smile to concern. John nodded and put on a fake smile. He tried to put a slight happy tone in his voice and asked:

"Man that really is some bullshit. But what were they talking about previously that made you guys fall over the place?"

"Oh yeah that" Gunther couldn't help but giggled a bit more. "You hear that just then when it said: 'mass shootings'? That was one of the biggest, blown up stories the Liandri corp. ever had. Mass shootings." Gunther scoffed. "Is that what you call two injured gas station workers? Mass shootings…" Gunther scoffed again.

"Oh…" John replied softly. "How did they find out it was you?" he asked.

"Well, the first guy squealed to the cops straight away. Bear in mind this was after Amon and I were put in the tournament. We managed to get lose and hook up with our buddies who, as you've probably guessed are Lock, Rae and Vick. That's why they are in here, Amon and I just went on unpunished, merely a slap on the wrist." Gunther didn't look as happy about it as he was earlier.

"What about the other guy?" John asked.

"Beats me" Amon replied. "I guess he could be anywhere by now, who knows."

John was rather taken back by this. The two people he classed as the nicest guys on the team had turned out to have been involved in more than the stories they had told him. What's more, they both laughed about it, something that Johnmay have evenbeen involved in himself and cannot remove the scars mentally and physically.

The vision came back again. John finally thought he was starting to get over it, but it was back; but there was something so much more familiar about it; the voices of the gang, the figures. John clutched his right leg firmly and blinked very heavily. He let out a deep breath and looked towards Gunther and Amon who were sitting chatting for some kind of comfort.

John tried to speak, but only the random quotes from that night that scarred him came out. The more he looked at Gunther, the more the voice seemed to fit his. John shook his head violently and the vision snapped away from his mind. Gunther had his hand on John's shoulder and was literally shouting in his ear.

John snapped out of his trance. Sweat dripped off his nose, and he breathed in shakily and let it out. He came to the conclusion that it was because Gunther had been right next to him, that he was starting to get into his vision.

"John! John! Are you ok?" Gunther exclaimed into John's ear.

"Yeah yeah I'm fine… I just-' John was interrupted by the familiar voice of the announcer calling Kill Switch to the elevators for the assault match. All three of them looked up at the TV and stood up quickly. They all still had their armour on, they couldn't be bothered to take it off last night.

Suddenly, Lock poked his head around the corner and started shouting at them. "Let's go a little hustle here! Come on!" he shouted. He turned and walked quickly away from the cell and towards the elevator. Amon, Gunther and John soon followed.

Vick was already waiting up the top with Rae, she was keeping her distance, especially after the weird stuff that happened last time. Vick was staring at the floor and usual and keeping his eye on the elevator. Rae was mainly looking at the crowd and every few minutes quickly checking behind her to see if Vick was doing a repeat of last time without her noticing.

The crowd was no way near as big as the CTF trophy match, but that wasn't to say that it wasn't big. Kill Switch had gained a lot more fans since their famous win a day earlier. Many banners and crazed fans with Kill Switch spray painted onto their shirts were all huddled in one corner at the front. Most others were near the platform in the center where they could get a good view of both teams close to each other.

Rae and Vick both wheeled around as they heard the elevator come up. Vick looked back at the floor again quickly as he realized Lock and the rest of the team had arrived. Rae was relieved to see them; she walked over to them and greeted each one with a friendly nod.

The team huddled around each other and Lock started giving battle strategies out. "Keep together if you can, we have more chance of getting each objective if we move as one force. Now, I know that none of us have done an assault match before. But just remember that all the information that we need about objectives is on our wrist pads. We are playing the Convoy scenario, so stay with the vehicles and watch for the minigun turrets and another other things that can be a threat. Just keep it moving, and keep it tight we'll be fine. Ok let's go."

The team all stood up and relieved their backs from crouching over. Vick stayed crouching over for a few more seconds, but it was very noticeable. He finally stood right up and turned around face to face with Lock. It looked quite ironic that Vick was taller than Lock, but it was Lock who was giving the warnings.

John watched both of them look at each other face to face. He couldn't make out anything they were saying to each other, they were very silent comments. Vick was really staring hard into Lock's eyes, but Lock wasn't back down at all, suddenly, the threats were broken by a small shove from Vick.

Lock retaliated quickly with a sort of half-assed punch in the stomach then quickly turned away and walked up to John. John watched as he came towards him, he was about to ask if Lock was ok when, before he could speak, Lock figure appeared in his mind as the vision came back. The sound of the crowd mixed and melted together with the scarring sounds of the three gunshots that plagued John's mind.

John stumbled with one hand over his ear. He looked back up at Lock, he standing right in front of him, his mouth was moving but John couldn't hear anything. Suddenly, his ears started ringing uncontrollably, then a whistling sound emerged and everything was back to normal. Lock was there shouting his name at him and the other were looking on.

"John! You there!" Lock shouted. John snapped out of it and stumbled again.

"Getting nervous about the match?" Lock said. John nodded when he really was still half deaf. "Don't worry about it man. Just remember, this match is just like all the others. Come on we gotta get on the platform." John nodded again and followed Lock up to the platform.

Once all the fighters were in their positions on the platform, John glanced over Rae's shoulder to see who they were actually fighting. Punk rock hairstyles, odd spikes coming out from their shoulders and what almost looks like strange rags for armour; it could only be the Hellions.

John leaned over to Gunther slightly and inquired: "Theses guys won the CTF trophy! How the hell did that happen?"

Gunther chuckled and replied: "They didn't deserve it, but they managed to get it by beating Super Nova wouldn't you believe. Xan's team was out of action that year and Malcolm was struggling to get the original Thunder Crash back together, so Super Nova was the only thing standing in their way." Gunther chuckled again and focused back on the match.

This made John feel a lot better, he remembered beating them in the Onslaught match earlier in the month, he smiled and looked into the bright lights above them. Suddenly, the announcer's voice came on announcing that the map was AS-Convoy between Kill Switch and the Hellions. The crowd noise rose several decibels and banners and flags went up around the stadium.

A flash of light engulfed both teams. The match was on…

(a/n) Again I apologize for no fighting, but this chapter really sets me up for the next chapter, which is just fighting. Anyways, fighting on Convoy should be good fun, miniguns and sniper rifles galore anyone? Reviews would be great, thanks. Stay tuned for the next chapter coming out soon!


	17. Ride the convoy

**Fight for Freedom**

(a/n) Alrighty, work has begun directly after the last chapter was submitted. Finally, some fighting now, something you haven't read from me in along time :) This match will obviously see the fight on AS Convoy with Kill Switch versus the Hellions. Again I'm excited about writing this one as I have a lot of ideas that have built over the time I haven't been writing, and also, this match might really see some proper friction between Vick and Lock… Here we go; this might be a big chapter so brace yourselves for:

Chapter 17: Ride the Convoy

Read, review and enjoy:)

All the team could see was camera footage of three large vehicles driving quickly along a desert plain. The female announcer voice came on over their earpieces. She started talking about the basis and origins of the match and how heroic the men were to get the missiles back from the convoy safely. Finally, the actually objectives were explained as the camera swooped around the moving scenario and focused on each objective as the announcer talked about it.

"First, the attackers must move the bridge across the convoy to gain access the to the transport vehicle. For an added boost, secure the control panel of the second vehicles for extra weapons and armour. Then, the attackers must destroy the blast doors on the transport vehicle using explosives. Once the explosives have been detonated, the attackers must move in and call reinforcements by opening the back passage of the transport vehicle. Watch out for the gasoline tanker in the center of the transport vehicle, as continuous hits will cause it to explode and be a large obstruction. Open the side doors to gain access to the missile carrier. One the missile carrier has been breached, the attackers must secure the missiles by holding down the level that's controls them." The camera viewed the missiles being rolled along out to the side of the missile carrier and onto another vehicle with a large trailer behind it.

"Phew, that's a lot to take in" John said quietly to himself. He gathered as much information as he could from the overview of the convoy before the announcer declared the start of the match:

"5…4…3…2…1…Begin"

Kill Switch was attacking first, if they could secure a fast time in the first round, the other team would have a lot less time to attack and win. The whole team spawned in a small truck at the rear of the convoy. Weapon lockers lay in front of them, and each member happily grabbed as many weapons as they could front it and Gunther and Rae managed to grab some armour.

"Let's go!" Lock shouted as he sprinted out of the door of the truck. "First, you must move the bridge to gain access to the transport vehicle." The announcer repeated in all of Kill Switch's earpieces. John was glad the orders were repeated, he was much more nervous than usual, and if it wasn't for the orders being repeated, he would have forgotten what he had to do already.

John was the third person out of the door, just behind Vick. Bullets rained down on them, sparks flew all around them, chipping off the metal and deflecting everywhere. John sprinted through the sparks trying to be hit by any. He was approaching the end of the small truck very quickly, and he realized that there was quite a large jump across to the other connected vehicles. He nearly stopped dead in his tracks if it wasn't for Gunther shouting at him to keep going.

"Just keep running and jump for it kid!" Gunther shouted from behind him. John looked across at the minigun turrets raining down bullets on them and then back at where he wanted to jump. He held his breath and leapt, Amon and Gunther overtook him in mid air and they landed safely on their feet.

Not surprisingly, John almost lost his footing when he jumped and landed hard on one of his knees and dropped his Rocket launcher. He quickly recovered and carried on sprinting down the convoy. The minigun bullets were really starting come down now, the Hellions couldn't afford to lose any time on any objective. John checked behind him to see if there was anybody there. Rae was there, but only for a split second. As soon as she jumped from the first vehicle she was hit in the chest several times from a minigun turret and she collapsed on her landing. John was just about to go to her aid when a well placed sniper bullet took her out of her misery.

John watched the trail of sparks from the minigun that hovered over Rae's body, and then it slowly started to move towards him. John quickly made a dash onto the next truck along the line and got some good cover behind the truck's load. Amon was also behind the same cover; she was taking shots at the turret with her rocket launcher. She loaded three rockets into her barrels and let them fly straight at the turret.

Amon noticed John coming up behind her. "Wait until the rockets have hit, then run like hell!" She shouted as she loaded another three rockets into her weapon. John poked his head around the corner and watched the deadly spiral get closer and closer to the turret. The turret had seemed to switch its attention towards what looked like Gunther and Lock desperately trying to get to the bridge.

"Go go go!" Amon shouted as John seemed to have lost attention at when the rockets were going to hit. John sprinted out of the cover just as Amon fired another spiral. No bullets showered him this time, all of the attention seemed to be focused on the frontline, which wasn't surprising really. John hopped onto the bridge vehicle. To his right there was a small ramp that led up to the actual bridge piece that would be moved across. To his slight left, there was a declining ramp that led down and then up towards the controls to the bridge.

John looked up the ramp on his right and saw the mangled corpse of Vick; John chose the ramp to his left. Baird has made his way onto the same vehicle that the whole Kill Switch team was on. This was not a wise move. He jumped down right in front of Gunther and Lock with a minigun, he let rip with the armour piercing bullets and cut Gunther down with startling speed, his carried on firing and turned to Lock.

Lock rolled to his left as bullets ricocheted all around him. One bullet managed to deflect off the ground and hit Lock in the back of the foot. This was only a minor encumbrance; Lock made another roll to his left and opened up with his Flak cannon. Hot metal shards tore through Baird's weak armour and penetrated his flesh blowing him back and off the edge of the convoy. Lock grinned. "Dumbass" he taunted.

John caught up with Lock just after this incident. John went down on one knee beside him. "You ok?" John asked.

"Yeah I'm fine. Now, we need to get to those controls. If we can't get them within 1 minutes we are all gonna have a tough time getting the rest of the objectives. Ok, so you go in and-' Lock was cut off mid sentence as they both watched Amon sprinted past them under a hail of fire and get to the controls with ease.

Lock was shocked and just said the first thing that came into his head. "C'mon don't just stand there go!" he shouted, acting like he knew what he going to say all along. John smiled and followed Lock quickly up to the controls.

When they both reached the controls, all they found was a half pulled lever and Amon's body with chunks of armour and flesh missing. "Shit" Lock said as he looked straight at the minigun turret. He quickly made a dash for the controls, regardless of his safety. "Cover me with the Shield Gun John hurry!" Lock ordered.

John has seen this been done of the TV before in matches. They made it look easy deflecting bullets right in front of their team mates. John whipped out his Shield gun and put up the shield. He leapt in front of Lock, trying to see through the distorted green screen. His eyes focused and he could now clearly see the minigun turret; and it was facing right at him.

John closed his eyes as he saw it open fire. Bullets pounded the Shield and John was hammered back almost into Lock who was forcing the lever down. The shield was failing with every bullet and it wasn't long before it would be depleted and John would be cut down.

Glancing at the amount of energy left in the weapon, it was just about to drop into single figures at a rapid rate. Just in the nick of time, the bridge was successfully moved across, blocking the minigun turret's line of fire.

"The bridge has been moved into position! You must now use the explosives to destroy the doors to the transport vehicle" the announcer stated.

"Ok lets' move!" Lock shouted excitedly down the radio. He charged up and over the bridge with John and now Vick right behind him. There were only slight openings along the bridge, but they were easily enough to get a man killed. Like John for instance; the minigun turret could see them every time they passed by a gap.

Garret, who was in the turret got a lucky shot in and managed to hit John in the side of the leg through one gap, and as John limped past the second he was cut down by a hail of fire. Vick skipped over John's corpse and swapped his link gun for John's rocket launcher. He jumped off the end of the bridge and onto the transport vehicle. They needed the explosives to get through to the next objective, and he wasn't planning on letting Lock take the glory of planting them.

Lock approached the door first, he checked himself for the explosives, he didn't have them. He looked back down the way Vick was coming up. "Throw me the explosives!" Lock shouted over to him. Vick ignored him and carried on running towards the door like Lock wasn't even there.

"I said throw the explosives dammit!" Lock ordered again. Vick just carried on, he approached the door, and was about to lay the explosives when Lock stepped in front of him. "Why the hell didn't you throw the explosives? I ordered you to!" Lock shouted.

"Does it really matter now! Just let me lay the damn explosives!" Vick shouted back.

"Well if you had thrown them to me when I asked you to then maybe we would have already gotten through these doors!"

"Well, maybe if you stopped bickering like an old woman we could actually get through them!" Vick screamed and pushed Lock violently to the floor. He laid the explosives and ran back to avoid the blast. Lock had to jump and roll to barely avoid dying. After the explosion Vick ran past Lock's battered and bruised body carelessly.

"The doors to the transport vehicles have been destroyed!" the announcer said. Lock stood up and gritted his teeth as he watched Vick move into the transport vehicle with all guns blazing. "Come on man let's go!" Rae shouted to Lock as she and the rest of the team came up behind him. "Let's go!" Lock ordered to the team and they all charged into the transport vehicle.

As they dashed through the warped doors of the transport vehicle, they came under heavy fire. Vick's body lay slumped in front of them. Before any of them could focus on the body or indeed their objective, link gun fire reigned down on top of them. There was a catwalk just above the door on the way in, perfect for an ambush on an unsuspecting team. Outlaw, Garrett and 'the other' Rae all lined the catwalk armed with link guns and rocket launchers.

Garrett fired with his link gun and caught Amon in the side of her head, knocking her off her feet. She was shot in the back again and she dropped lifelessly to the floor. The remaining members of the team all spun around and let rip with everything they had. A stray rocket soared past John head by inches and crashed into the wall behind him.

Gunther opened up with his minigun and pounded Baird in the chest as payback for merely a minute ago. More bullets ricocheted all around the small area they were in. A flak ball blew apart in between Rae and Garrett, blowing them to the side and off the catwalk. John rushed to the lever they had to pull and watched as the rest of the team rushed towards the next objective under a hail of fire.

"Lever inside transport vehicle pulled. Reinforcements are on the way!" the announcer stated.

Someone, somewhere, let off a badly aimed flak ball. Everything seemed to go in slow motion for a second as everybody watched it sail towards the leaking gas tanker in the middle of the vehicle. John saw Gunther mouth the word 'shit' in slow motion. The flak ball finally shattered on the gas tanker. Flames erupted from all the sides of it. A small shock wave was released, knocking everyone off their feet. Then the explosion, a huge fire ball engulfed the whole area. Screams were heard and loose shot were let off everywhere.

John could feel the whole room getting hotter and hotter until the fireball tore him apart. Everyone else in the room was decimated. Weapons melted under the heat, and nothing was left after the explosion. Except Vick, who was even knocked off his feet and he wasn't even in the room at the time. He poked his head around the corner to see if anything has survived, they was almost nothing left. Warped weapons lay everywhere, and with the odd body part lying around still on fire. He saw his chance and dashed for the lever to open the side doors.

He didn't get obstructed in the slightest. He slammed down the lever and watched the side doors open slowly. "Side doors have been opened" the announcer said.

Everybody finally respawned and loaded up on the nearby weapon lockers. Vick was the first person out of the side doors and the minigun turret instantly opened fire on him. Vick would have barely made the large jump to the other vehicle even if he hadn't been shot by the minigun turret. He was smashed back in mid air and fell in between both vehicles and was ripped to pieces by the shear force and speed the convoy was going.

Gunther leapt out after him and took a hit in the shoulder; he landed in a crumpled heap, but could carry on. He glanced behind him and watched Lock and Rae jump over and land as well. John was given an order to try and take out the turret in anyway he could. He chose the link gun and was firing shots at it from a distance. Luckily, the gun was distracted by Gunther, Lock and Rae charging at it furiously. John carried on firing.

Rae dodged to her left and pushed herself off the side rail of the vehicle whilst firing flak ball after flak ball at Outlaw. He managed to dodge one, but the other hit him square in the jaw, sending him flying backwards. Baird appeared to Rae's right sporting a minigun; he fired at her just as Rae ducked behind cover. Baird kept her suppressed, the gunfire suddenly stopped and she saw Baird's body plunge into the metal floor next to her, dead.

She poked her head up from cover and saw Gunther with a minigun running up to the minigun turret. The gun was distracted by Lock who was getting severely suppressed; if he even thought about lifting his head up he'd be dead for sure. Gunther rushed at the turret and jumped onto the back on it and poked his minigun inside the compartment where the gunner was sitting.

"Peek-a-boo!" Gunther taunted as he opened up with his minigun at point blank range, cutting Kaela to shreds. Gunther looked at how much energy the turret had left, there was barely any left, a few more hits and it probably would have been destroyed anyway. Gunther's eyes widened as he saw about nine or ten single link shots come flying towards the turret he was on. The link shots dispersed into the turret and Gunther leapt as far as he could off the turret as it exploded in a ball of flame, sending debris everywhere. He felt the force of the explosion pushed him further away from it, but it wasn't enough to stop him from getting hurt by the blast.

Gunther landed in heap and clutched his shoulder. "Nice one John!" Gunther said sarcastically down the radio.

"Oh crap sorry!" John replied

"Ok everybody let's move forwards! John move up with us and let's get these damn missiles!" Lock shouted down the radio eagerly.

John came out from where he was firing at the turret and looked at the jump he had to make and gulped. He barely made the first small jump, so it was almost certain he was going to fail this one. He took a few steps back, held his breath, sprinted to the edge and dived as far as he could across. It didn't look like John was make it, he held his hands out to try and grab something that would save him, and miraculously, he just managed to reach the edge of the vehicle and hang on.

John's legs were dangling next the furiously fast wheels of the convoy. He hunched up his legs to his stomach and pulled up. He just managed to get one leg up and onto the convoy and finally get back on his feet and get going. "The missile vehicle has been infiltrated!" the announcer said. John smiled as he watched saw the missiles slide neatly out of the edge and onto a passing truck with a trailer. John looked at his wrist pad. Time remaining: 6 minutes 43 seconds. It seemed pretty good considering they had ten minutes overall.

"Blue team successfully attacked!" the announcer declared. A series of whoops and cheers came over the radio. "Nice job team!" Lock claimed cheerfully.

Now it was Kill Switch's turn to defend the convoy, and judging by how well the Hellions did defending it, it was likely to be easier said than done.

"5…4…3…2…1…Begin"

"Defend the bridge" the announcer said, it was exactly the same as the attacking objectives, just switched around.

"Ok let's get on the turret and use everything we've got to stop these guys!" Lock ordered to everybody.

The team loaded up on weapon lockers as usual. John grabbed a sniper rifle and a minigun with a shed load of ammo for it. He ran out to the balcony on the side of the transport vehicle, the infamous minigun turret lay unused to his left. John found an ideal spot, crouched and aimed down the scope. He spotted the whole team running under fire, John quickly chose a target. It appeared to be Kaela; he aimed as best he could and squeezed of a shot. The force of weapon kicked his shoulder violently; John recovered and looked back down the scope. Blood was all over the Kaela's left leg, he must have hit her somehow.

John aimed again, but this time he missed. When the small cloud of smoke dispersed from in front of him, the team seemed to have disappeared. They obviously got behind some good cover, and if they did anything like Amon did when she got in cover, they would start taking fire very soon.

Suddenly, bullets chipped and sparked all around John's cover. John ducked to avoid being hit, he didn't eve see where the fire came from, and his guess was at the same place where Amon fired her rockets at the turret. John looked at the turret himself, nobody was on it, and that would probably give them a distinct advantage. Just as John thought of this, Lock and Vick both appeared and looked like they were going to get into the turret. "Uh-oh" John said quietly to himself as he popped his head up only to be greeted by more lethal bullets.

There really wasn't much John could do without the minigun suppressing something. But with Lock and Vick both going for it, all he could do was just hope at least somebody could get on it and start firing.

Vick just managed to hop into the seat of the turret, he started firing. Lock was mere inches away from sitting in it, he saw how Vick just stole it from him and he was at such a point where anything even to do with Vick made him vivid, and it was no surprise that this annoyed him too.

John saw the minigun firing again and saw his chance to actually get some shots in from up above. He finally spotted the person who had been shooting at him, it was Rae. John took his aim carefully, and let off a high velocity shot. He literally head blew her open, blood and brains smothered her cover and her body. John opened his mouth in disbelief and looked at the rifle he was holding.

John noticed the minigun wasn't firing anymore; it could only be one thing John thought. Lock had been commenting loudly on Vick's shooting as soon as he got in it. It wasn't long before their attention was taken off the battle, onto each other. Lots of gunfire was coming down from the vehicles, and random and confusing radio calls kept getting bellowed around the fighting area so it was hard really hear much unless it was on the radio.

John watched in disbelief as the two bickered and argued maliciously. John's mouth remained open throughout the whole miniature conflict. All he could make out of what they were saying were random phrases like "explosives being thrown, pushing around" etc. Vick was still sitting in the turret not firing it, the argument soon climaxed into pushes and shoves, until Lock finally lost it and shoulder barged Vick out of the seat of the turret. Vick slid backwards towards John as Lock started firing with the minigun. Vick gritted his teeth and John heard him mumble some swear words and then go onto the jump pad and into the main battle.

John didn't really want to stay around much longer. Lock was definitely in a bad mood and would most likely choose John to order about the most seeing as he would be right next to him. John pulled out his minigun and was thrusted forwards by the small jump pad built into the side of the large transport vehicle. He stumbled when he landed; it wasn't surprising seeing as the jump was at least 70 feet across.

Gunther and Amon were covering the controls very well, both armed with miniguns, anything that even came near them was torn to shreds. John watched them as they ripped Outlaw to pieces, blood spilling onto their weapons. Suddenly, John heard the familiar sound of a shield gun being charged, he wheeled around sharply and his eyes widened to see Baird rushing towards him with a fully powered shield gun.

"Shit!" John exclaimed as he narrowly dived out of the way of the rampant shield gun owner. John turned on the floor and fired a few rounds at Baird's back, only one of them hit. Baird turn to face John, he had used the secondary mode to make a shield.

John fired a few more rounds at the shield, even though he knew he couldn't penetrate it with just a few bullets. He dodged to the left to try and catch Baird on his open side, but to no avail. John rolled to the right and even tried bluffing an attack, none of it worked. Suddenly, in the corner of John's eye he saw Garrett run past, gun down Gunther and Amon and make it to the lever. John swore a rushed over to the lever, Baird saw his chance.

John used the armour piercing bullets to riddle Garrett's body with holes; he was mere mili-seconds away from achieving the objective. Baird grinned and charged at John once again, he had his back to him so he didn't even see it coming. John felt an indescribable amount of pain surge through his back and then disperse through his stomach as his torso was ripped out from underneath him in an extremely bloody death. Baird pulled the lever down the rest of the way and the bridge was across.

Lock checked his wrist pad for time. They had 4 minutes and 12 seconds left. That was barely enough time for them to win the match Lock thought. He abandoned the minigun turret and went for a more direct approach to defending. He grabbed a sniper rifle from the nearby weapons locker and headed down to where the next objective was; the security doors.

He went down on one knee in the corner next to the door and peered through the scope. Gunther had obviously been trying to defend on the bridge, as Lock saw his body fly of the edge under a hail of fire. The minigun turret had started firing again, at least giving them some kind of distraction from when Lock would sharply take their heads off.

Rae in the minigun was putting it to good use. She concentrated her fire only through the gap on the bridge, Kaela was unfortunate enough to not notice this and was cut down in crumpled heap with a quick burst from the turret. Suddenly, two spirals of three rockets came hurtling in out of nowhere. The first spiral smashed into the high strength glass at the front, smashing it and sending shards into her body, the second spiral hit the place on the turret where most of the ammo was stored. The turret exploded with Rae inside, large chunks of debris flew off the side of the convoy and around the rest of the area.

"Die bitch!" taunted Outlaw and Baird simultaneously. Lock gritted his teeth as he saw both of them run over the bridge and right into his killing zone. Neither outlaw nor Baird even spotted Lock where he was hiding, they were both running directly towards him with no idea what was just about to happen to them.

Lock took aim steadily and squeezed off a deadly shot. Baird's head was blown apart as his corpse slumped right in front of Outlaw. Outlaw spotted where Lock was, and as he hopped over Baird's ragged corpse, another bullet was released and hit him straight in the heart. Blood burst out from behind him, Outlaw gasped for breath as he stumbled and collapsed onto Baird's body. Lock grinned menacingly.

He checked his wrist pad, 3 minutes and 32 seconds left. Just as soon as Lock looked up from his wrist pad, a rocket flew in hit the wall behind him, knocking him forwards. Lock looked up from the floor and witnessed another rocket fly in, except this time, it hit him square the head, smashing his body back into the wall behind him.

"The explosives are in place!" the announcer said. Rae, Vick and Amon all rushed down to where the explosives would be and saw Rae running for cover away from the explosion. As the explosives went off, the force threw Rae near the edge, Amon fired a rocket and Rae literally bounced off the rocket and drifted over the edge. With the security doors now open, all of the team needed to get inside quickly.

Bullets ploughed their way into Vick's back, knocking him onto the floor. Rae and Amon spun around with their weapons ready; Rae didn't even have time to get her aim in before she too was cut down by Garrett's deadly fire. Amon knew the same was going to happen to her if he stayed still, Garrett appeared back into view from his cover on the bridge and fired the same amount of shots it took to kill Vick and Rae.

Amon used the side rail of the convoy to push herself off and get a clean shot, one handed; she let off a flak ball right where Garrett was standing. It connected with Garrett's shoulder, blowing it off and blasting his body through one of the gaps in the bridge. Amon quickly retreated back in the transportation vehicle.

Inside the transportation vehicle, Gunther had been setting up a sneaky minefield using a bio-rifle and the toxic blobs that it fired. Amon came rushing around the corner and almost waded right through Gunther's minefield. She just managed to make a short dive land clear of the toxic waste before stumbling and falling over. Amon laughed "Phew!" she said.

John had positioned himself up on the catwalk just above the entrance with a link gun, Rae was also up there with him, ready to link with him and create a much more powerful beam. An explosion rang out, everybody went quiet and kept all their attention on the door. Baird and Outlaw charged into the room, only to wade right into the toxic minefield. Outlaw instantly slumped to the floor face first into the goo, whilst Baird screamed loudly as the toxic material burned away at both his legs. Kaela and Garrett got the warning and double jumped into the room.

"Go!" Rae shouted at John. John fired the link beam from his weapon and Rae linked up with it. The usually green beam turned yellow and John felt the shock of the gun much harder to control when he fired. The strong yellow beam scalded its way through Kaela's back, leaving nothing but a skeleton. Garrett had managed to dive forwards and turn to face the catwalk in the same motion. He let loose a barrage of rockets, knocking John off his feet. Amon quickly moved out of her cover and finished him off with a point blank shot from her flak cannon.

"2 minutes remain" the announcer said. Every time the announcer made a comment about time Kill Switch got more relaxed, and the Hellions got for tense and nervous. The attacking seemed to have died down in the transportation vehicle. All of the team had managed to get re supplied with ammo and armour before getting back into position. Silence roamed throughout the area. Lock pointed at Gunther to go and look at outside to see what was happening. Gunther nodded and walked slowly out of the door. He stood directly up and was about to make jump to get back inside when rockets and flak shards tore right through him and leaving his hacked up body in a heap. The team steadied their weapons and aimed carefully.

There was another explosion, all of the Hellions burst through the door at the same time in a unstoppable rampage. John and Rae connected the link gun but before they could even hit anybody they were blasted back against the wall by a hail rockets. Outlaw sprinted through and slammed the lever down, Amon managed to use her flak cannon to kill him quickly, but it was too late, he had already hit the lever and they had to move on to the next objective. Before Amon could react Baird rushed in a blew off her head at point blank range with a sniper rifle.

"1 minutes remains!" the announcer claimed. Lock shouted down the radio: "Come on, just one more minute!"

As soon as he said this, his entire lower body was blasted from underneath him by a flak cannon. Vick sprayed the area from where the rocket came from with minigun bullets, he didn't hit anything. Suddenly, Kaela popped up and fired at him, Vick rolled and returned fire, hitting her in the chest, but before he could deliver the final shot, Rae came up on his other side and blasted him away. The lever was exposed, John had just respawned and entered the fight just behind them, he fired as many bullets as he could at the group with his minigun, there was no cover on the tramp that he was on, so the enemy fire was all concentrated on him and he was blasted back up the ramp by a rocket.

"Side doors opened!" the announcer said.

Lock swore, but there was still no way they could finish the match, even with the awesome rampage. Finally, the rampage was hindered greatly. Vick has managed to leap into the minigun turret and hammer as many bullets as he could into Kaela, Rae and Baird. The charge was really brought to a halt, leaving only one person on the Hellions team alive. Gunther and Rae jumped onto his cover simultaneously and both shot him at point blank range.

"10 seconds remain" the announcer stated. Kill Switch relaxed, there was no way the Hellions could win now. Everybody just took cover and tried to avoid getting killed from silly mistakes.

"5…4…3…2…1…Blue team is the winner!" the announcer shouted. In a flash of light the whole team appeared back in the stadium.

The crowd noise was pretty deafening. The whole section of the crowd who supported the Hellions were silent, the rest of the crowd were cheering and jeering like crazy.

"What an amazing match we had there ladies and gentlemen! It was a close call but it looks like the Hellions just couldn't match the victorious Kill Switch!" the crowd went crazy. The Hellions walked slowly back to the elevator and went down it in silence. The rest of Kill Switch whooped and laughed and played along with the crowd smiling. John, Vick and Lock had all gone down into the same lift.

Silence. Lock and Vick didn't look anywhere near each other, they barely made a sound.

"So…err…good match huh?" John asked trying to raise the mood. Lock and Vick both looked at him with a 'shut up' look on their face. "Sorry" John said and looked down at the floor.

(a/n) Well! There you go, that's actually two chapters in two days, back to the way it used to be. Well, I hope you enjoyed that chapter; I had some good fun writing it too. Makes me really wanna go and play the game. Oh well, stay tuned for the next chapter very soon! Reviews would be great. Thanks :)


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